Rising Seniors, Part 2 of a Trilogy
by Whistler Nights
Summary: Sequel to Closing the Door. Covers New Direction's senior year at McKinley High plus their last summer before they graduate. Begins after Nationals 2011. Continues through Nationals 2012.
1. Chapter 1

**Rising Seniors, A Sequel**

This story is the sequel to Closing the Door

(I do not own Glee or any of the any of the characters.)

What a whirlwind late spring weekend it had been. First the club had been stranded in New York overnight without chaperones. Then they beaten their competition and won the first National Championship for McKinley since 1993.

It had been a bittersweet win over their rival Vocal Adrenaline. Rachel had expected to go head to head with Sunshine Corazon proving that she was the superior vocalist, but Sunshine hadn't competed. The win could really be credited to Kurt and Blaine. Kurt had been expelled from Dalton and Blaine had followed him back to McKinley. The two boys had finished New Directions' set with their rendition of Susan Boyle's _I Am Who I Was Born To Be_ that was as moving as much as it was magical.

The Monday after their win over the weekend, the student body had treated them like kings. They repeated their winning performance at a special assembly that afternoon, and maybe it was a coincidence that the slushie machine was gone. Every one of them believed that their reign at the bottom of the McKinley food chain was over.

Rachel and Finn were solidly back together even though it had been a rough spring semester for the two of them. After school was dismissed on that Monday afternoon, Finn drove Rachel home in his old truck and she made a picnic for them in the back yard.

Spread out on a blanket, Finn and Rachel were finally enjoying some down time watching the clouds over head. Every cloud that Finn saw reminded him of food; Rachel saw animals and flowers in the same clouds.

"Finn, can you believe that our junior year will be over in a few days? When the class of 2011 graduates next week, we will officially be rising seniors," Rachel said.

"Yes, and every one of us wishes we had what you have. Early acceptance to not one but three universities, have you decided on which one that you are going to pick?" Finn said nuzzling her hair.

"I think that you know the answer to that one, Juilliard of course," Rachel said squeezing his hand. "Have you given anymore thought about where you're going to apply? A conference football championship, a Nationals show choir title, and your new SAT scores will only make your transcript shine."

"It won't be anywhere in New York," Finn said honestly. "With our money situation it'll have to be state college in Ohio or the local community college."

"Kurt is talking about NYU or FIT in New York, how is he going to afford it?" Rachel asked.

"When his mom died, she left him enough money to go to college. When my dad was killed, all he left Mom was a mortgage and a baby," Finn sighed.

"But what a wonderful man that baby turned out to be," Rachel smiled kissing Finn on the cheek. "Have you checked into college money from the VA or something since you dad was killed in Desert Storm?" With our football team on a winning streak, there's got to be a football scholarship out there."

"I've got all of that on my to do list, but right now I just want to spend what's left of the afternoon with you and wind down from our weekend and our National victory."

"Finn, do you realize that it's been a year since you told me that you loved me for the first time? Is this like our first anniversary together as a couple?"

"I'm not sure that you can call it a full year since we spent part of the winter broken up. I still kick myself for that colossal waste of time."

"I regret it too, but I feel like we've closer since we got back together, do you?"

"After our Friday night in New York, we're definitely closer," Finn said rolling Rachel over on the picnic blanket for a long lingering kiss.

The kiss was getting intense when Rachel's cell phone rang.

"Leave it," Finn said peppering her jaw with kisses.

"It's Mr. Schue," Rachel said. "It might be important."

Finn listened to one side of their conversation while he packed up their picnic stuff.

"Finn, you're not going to believe it," Rachel said. "The local newspapers and television stations want to interview New Directions about our Nationals win. They're going to be at school tomorrow afternoon for interviews and pictures. It seems that they're referring to you as the singing quarterback."

"Oh great," Finn said out loud. "Am I going to be the singing quarterback like Gene Autry is the singing cowboy? He's the guy who wrote and sang _Rudolph the_ _Red Nose Reindeer _you know."

"You'll have to write a song and ride a horse before you can be a singing cowboy," Rachel said teasing Finn.

"I'm afraid of horses," Finn said.

"Well you don't have anything to worry about of do you? Anyway, Mr. Schue wants you to call all of the guys and tell them about the reporters and not to wear any offensive t-shirts tomorrow."

"Does that mean that I can't wear my Mick Jagger tongue t-shirt? That thing is pure vintage; I found it at a yard sale."

"No, I threw that thing away one day when you weren't looking, and your mom thanked me," Rachel said rolling her eyes.

"Rachel, that shirt was an antique, I bet that it was older than I am," Finn sighed.

"It smelled like it was older than you are too. Besides if you want to have your picture on the evening news with me, you'll need to wear something respectable."

The next day at lunch everyone ate together and the talk about the reporters coming to school was non-stop. Finn was the first to notice that Artie wasn't among them.

"Where's Artie? Is he sick or something?" Finn asked Brittany.

"I dumped him, he's a boy, he got me pregnant," Brittany said as cool as a cucumber.

"What!" Mercedes said spitting her water into the air in a spray. "When did this happen?"

"I think at Rachel's party. Miss Holliday the sex ed teacher says that having sex with boys can get you pregnant and Artie is a boy."

"Have you taken the test?" Santana asked.

"Nope, I don't have a test until third period math class tomorrow," Brittany answered.

"No, I mean have you had a pregnancy test?" Santana asked.

Brittany only shook her head no.

"I'm heading out to my car to get a pregnancy test," Santana said getting up. "I always keep a spare one in my glove compartment."

Finn bit his lip before he asked, "Brittney, when you and Artie were having sex, did Artie forget to wear his rain coat?"

"Why would Artie need to wear a raincoat? It wasn't raining inside Rachel's house?" Brittany said giving Finn a puzzled look.

"I think what Finn is trying to ask you is did Artie use a condom when you two had sex?" Rachel said giving Finn an exasperated look.

"Yes, of course, he always does. What does that have to do with raincoats?"

"Never mind," Mercedes said shaking her head at Finn.

"Brittany, do you know where babies come from?" Rachel asked.

"Up until this morning I thought that the stork brought them, but in sex ed class, Miss Holliday said that you got them from having sex with boys. That's why I dumped Artie. He's a boy."

Santana soon appeared with the pregnancy test in her hand and pulled Brittany to the nearest bathroom.

"I can't believe that she thinks that a stork brings the babies, but this is the same girl who believes in Santa Claus and magic combs too," Sam said shaking his head.

"And that the square root of four is a rainbow," Kurt mused.

"I can't believe that she hasn't gotten pregnant before now. She's had sex with nearly every guy in this school. That doesn't include me," Finn said giving Rachel a cautious look.

"She's not pregnant!" Santana announced dragging Brittany back from the bathroom. "Tell Mr. Schue that I'm going to be late for Spanish. I'm going to the library and have a birds and the bees talk with Britt before she really does get pregnant," Santana said leading Brittany in the direction of the library.

"I'm going to be late too, I'm going to go and look for Artie and try to explain things to him," Finn said bewildered.

"If you happen to go by the nurse's office, go in and get a supply of little raincoats," Puck said to Finn trying not to burst out laughing."

Finn and Rachel were walking away when she whispered to Finn, "Where did you come up with the idea of calling condoms little raincoats?"

"It's what my mom called them when she gave me the birds and the bees talk. I didn't want to use the word condom in front of a bunch of girls." Finn said trying to defend himself to a very embarrassed Rachel.

Finn found Artie in the locker room cleaning out his locker.

"Artie, Brittany says that she dumped you, did she tell you why," Finn asked.

"No really," Artie answered sadly.

"She dumped you because you're a guy, that's why. Brittany thought that the stork brought the babies until this morning. Miss Holliday told her in sex ed that babies come from having sex with guys. You're a guy, you had sex with her, she thought that she was pregnant."

"Is she?" Artie asked in a panic.

"No, Santana apparently keeps a spare pregnancy test in her car. She went out and got it and had Brittany use it. Anyway, Brittany seems to have sworn off all guys at least for now. Your crime is being a dude. And if anyone in Glee says anything about raincoats, act like you don't know what they're talking about. What's your next class and I'll get you there before I go to Spanish," Finn said pushing Artie out of the locker room. "Don't be late for Glee today; all of those reporters are going to be there."

-/-

Until chapter two, please keep reading and reviewing.

"I'm sorry that I got a little off track with Brittany and the birds and the bees. I saw a possible spoiler today and I couldn't resist. Forgive me, it was fun!

Chapter two is coming, Whistler Nights


	2. Chapter 2 The Singing Quarterback

**The Singing Quarterback – Chapter 2**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters. I also do not own the Lincoln Ghost Train, the Moonville Tunnel, or the Polar Express stories or Kool-Aid.)

As promised, the media arrived at the McKinley High auditorium at three o'clock to interview New Directions about their win at the National Show Choir Championship in New York. Their mega size trophy had to be shipped over night from New York and had arrived just hours before the reporters and the camera crews arrived.

The reporters interviewed everyone, but they seemed to be most interested in who they had dubbed "The Singing Quarterback" and the small town girl who had already been offered early acceptance to Juilliard, NYU, and Berkley. Finn and Rachel were all over the Good News segments of evening news.

The pictures in the next morning newspaper papers where of Finn in his football jersey and Rachel standing beside a trophy that was four inches taller than she was. The largest picture was of Finn holding the conference football championship trophy in one hand while standing beside the five foot, six inch show choir trophy.

Everyone was interviewed, but the interview that received the most play was Finn's. The reporter asked what his plans were after high school. Finn told the reporters that he wanted to play football for Ohio State in Columbus.

While the kids were being interviewed by the media, Coach Beiste, Ms. Pillsbury/Howell and several members of the staff and school board watched and listened from the back of the auditorium.

Coach Beiste leaned over to Emma and whispered, "If Finn wants to go to Ohio State, then let's see if we can make it happen. I know at least one of the recruiters in their athletic department. We met while he was recruiting my players in Missouri."

"I'm already working on it," Emma whispered back. "Finn has been coming to my SAT prep classes and Rachel has been tutoring him. His latest SAT scores meet OSU's requirements, but money is a problem for his family."

Later, down in Columbus, the singing quarterback story had made the back page of the local newspaper's sports section. In the recruiting office of OSU, one of the scouts made a note of it, and made a memo to check this quarterback out especially when he saw who his football coach was. Coach Shannon Beiste was the only woman high school football coach that he knew of, and she had a reputation for turning losing teams into winners.

Graduation was set for the following week; the majority of New Directions would be in the next senior class. The group had been asked to sing at graduation and Rachel, Artie, Mike, Kurt, and Quinn were serving as Junior Marshals for the ceremony. They were among the top 10 % of their junior class academically.

Except for final exams and graduation on Saturday, not much else was happening the final week of school.

At the graduation of the class of 2011, New Directions performed _I'll Remember You_ by No Secrets and then sat down in the back of the auditorium to watch the proceedings. Rachel squeezed Finn's arm as she whispered in his ear, "Next year at this time, it'll be us crossing the stage to receive our diplomas."

As the graduates names were called, Finn's mind started to wander. This time next year their run at McKinley would be over. He reign as BMOC and high school quarterback would be over. Glee would be over. The kids that he had gone to school with since kindergarten would be heading in a hundred different directions. Nothing would ever be the same.

Rachel would be heading to New York for four years. Could their relationship endure months of separation at a time? But the question that he was most worried about was, would Rachel out grow him?

It had been a year since he told Rachel that he loved her for the first time. Had it really been that long? There had been rough times, broken up times, but Finn preferred to remember the good times.

When the class of 2011 graduation proceedings were over, Mr. Schue gathered the group around him and asked them to meet him in the choir room. Finn was delayed by Coach Beiste and was the last to enter the choir room. His face grew bright red when he saw all of his glee team mates already seated and wearing bright yellow rain coats and hats. In Finn's usual chair was a box of condoms with a duck wearing a raincoat sticker placed over the label. Finn knew immediately who had set this up.

"Puck, couldn't you have at least bought the right size?" Finn joked with Puck.

"That's the smallest size rain coats, I mean condoms, that the drug store had," Puck yelled back at him holding up his arms in defense. Finn laughed as he threw the box of condoms at Puck nailing him squarely.

Everyone had a good laugh at Finn's expense before Mr. Schue told them that they had been invited to perform at Lima's Summer Concert in the Park Series. They would be performing at the Fourth of July festivities and he hoped that they could all make it. He would be in touch with the details. With that their teacher wished them a great summer and sent them on their way.

As everyone was saying goodbye, Quinn approached Rachel and handed her a small gift bag. "I know that you'll probably be seeing Beth on Monday since it's her first birthday. Would you ask Shelby if it's alright for her to have this? If not now, maybe in the future. It's a locket with two pictures in it, one on me and one of Puck."

Before Rachel could respond, Quinn was gone. Rachel pulled the locket out of the gift bag and saw that it was engraved, "We will always love you," on the back and Beth's name engraved on the front.

"Did you see what Quinn gave me for Beth," Rachel asked Finn. "They have an open adoption; I wish that at least Quinn would come to Beth's birthday party. Will you be able to make it?"

"No, I'm going to start my new summer job on Monday, so I won't be able to come," Finn answered.

"Aren't you working at Sheets and Things?" Rachel asked.

"I'm not working there anymore. With the publicity that I've been getting lately as the singing quarterback, Allen County Park and Recreation offered a job to me with their summer youth program. I'll be working nine to five Monday through Friday and every other Saturday. I can also pick up some extra cash officiating at games or at swim meets in the evening or on the weekends."

"I'm going to be busy too. While I was helping Shelby set up for Beth's birthday party, she asked me if I'd like to earn some extra money babysitting. She has decided to work on her masters degree at the Lima campus of Ohio State. That won't leave much time for us to see each other," Rachel sighed.

"We'll have the evenings and Sundays unless I pick up some extra hours working the baseball games and stuff. I have to start putting money in the bank to help pay for college and air fare to New York," Finn sighed.

"New York?" Rachel asked confused.

"When you go off the Juilliard, I'm going to come and see you every chance that I get and my old truck won't make it."

"Finn it's over a year before I go off to college, but I do respect your decision to be financially responsible. It's just that I'm never going to see you unless I take a class from the Park and Rec or come watch a game."

"I can teach you to swim if you don't mind being in a class with pre-schoolers."

"I already know how to swim, but I can come and work on my tan and watch you teach swim lessons. I just love seeing you in a pair swim trunks," Rachel smiled at him.

Finn did start his new job bright and early Monday morning. Lifeguard and Swimming Instructor training was at seven AM followed by teaching basketball techniques to a group of middle school kids. The girls immediately loved him; the boys want to be like him, the high school jock. They'd all seen him on television the week before.

Summer vacation was just starting and already Rachel missed Finn. He had to be at Park and Rec. at seven AM until he passed his life guard and swimming instructor certification.

By nine o'clock the kids who had signed up for summer classes began filing in. His day was filled with basketball, football, baseball, and volley ball coaching or officiating at games. By the time he left work at five he was exhausted, but he enjoyed working with the kids so much. It sure beat folding towels and dusting at Sheets and Things.

The first afternoon that both Finn and Rachel had off together, they spent it in the hammock on Rachel's back patio. Finn mostly slept while Rachel kept the hammock slowing swinging back and forth. Even though Finn was sleeping, Rachel just enjoyed laying there next to him watching him and studying his tanned features.

She knew that Finn had gotten his kindness and brown eyes from his mother, but she wondered about Finn's father. For Finn to be so tall, his father must have been tall too. The dimples and freckles must have come from his dad as well.

Finn finally woke up and stretched nearly knocking Rachel out of the hammock.

"I'm sorry Rachel. What time is it? I didn't mean to sleep our entire afternoon away," Finn said pulling her closer to him.

"It's okay, I've enjoyed watching you sleep and rocking the hammock. You looked like you could of used a few hours of sleep," Rachel said wiping the drool from his chin.

"Believe me, I needed the extra sleep, but I had the best dream. I dreamed that you and I and some of our friends went up to Lake Erie and went camping. Does that sound like something that you would like to do?" Finn asked.

"I've never been camping," Rachel confessed. "I've never seen the need to give up a bed and a bathroom to sleep out side. I'm afraid of bears, mountain lions, snakes, spiders….."

Before Rachel could name every creature that was on Noah's Arc Finn interrupted her.

"Rachel, it's really a lot of fun. We could ask Puck, Sam, and Artie to go with us. We could sit around the fire at night and roast marshmallows and sing campfire songs. During the day we could go hiking, fishing, and swimming," Finn said smiling.

"What about the girls?" Rachel asked.

"We can invite them too, but I don't know about Quinn. She and Sam aren't speaking to each other since the fiasco at prom," Finn answered.

"I'll think about it," Rachel answered mulling the idea.

"I'm off next weekend, we could camp out in your back yard as a start," Finn offered. "You'd have a bathroom close by and that big fence that you have would keep away all of the lions, and tigers, and bears," Finn said mocking her.

"There are no lions, and tigers, and bears in Lima, Ohio," Rachel said elbowing him in the ribs. "However we do have dogs and cats in the neighborhood and an occasional skunk or raccoon."

"A skunk is a good enough reason to have a fence," laughed Finn.

"I'll ask my dads if it's okay. Dad just had an outdoor fireplace built. We could roast marshmallows there. I'll fix hors d'oeuvres, canapés and virgin cosmos. Do you think anyone would like cucumber sandwiches?"

"Rachel, you really never have been camping have you?" Finn smiled. "Camping is about hotdogs and bug juice. I like to fix a big pot of chili over the fire. It's not a garden party with tents and sleeping bags."

"No, I really have never been camping unless you count staying at a two star hotel. But what exactly is bug juice?"

"It's day old Kool-Aid that has gotten warm and watered down from the melted ice. Ants always get in it. It sounds gross, but its part of the camping experience."

"I'll talk to my dads about camping in our back yard, but I'm going to get lots of bottled water. There's no way that I'm drinking bug juice."

Monday morning came too quickly and Finn was out the door early. One more week of life guard training and he would be certified and could get at least one extra hour of sleep. Today's routine was the same as last weeks. Basket ball before lunch, volley ball after lunch and pee-wee football drills before he could go home at five.

Today was different. One of the baseball coaches asked if he could come back at seven and pitch for one of the coach pitch teams. Finn had made plans with Rachel but called her to cancel them.

Finn had never pitched for coach pitch baseball before, but he remembered playing coach pitch when he was a kid. He would be filling in for the Cardinals team that was made up of five and six year old boys and girls. It was an odd make up of kids, but all of the coach pitch teams were.

Pitching underhanded for five and six year olds was difficult for someone as tall as Finn at first. The parents in the stands were the first to let him know about it. After one or two innings, Finn got the hang of it and was hitting the strike zone consistently.

When the game was over Finn was surrounded by his winning team. Scanning the bleachers, he soon spotted his biggest fans. Rachel, Burt, Kurt, and Carole were there rooting his team on.

"I never knew that you were a three sport jock," Burt said rubbing Finn's wet hair.

"I didn't either," Finn said leaning in to give Rachel a quick sweaty kiss. "What made you decide to come?"

"When you cancelled out date, I thought that I'd ask Carole if she and Burt would like to take in a coach pitch game in the park."

"Thanks for coming. When I took this job, I never thought that I would be filling in for coach pitch, but these kids are awesome. They don't take themselves or the game too seriously."

Rachel went home with the Hudson/Hummel clan and talked with Carole while Finn took a shower. When he came out, Rachel hugged him and inhaled deeply. "Gosh you smell good," she said.

"You don't like the smelly, dirty version of me?" Finn asked.

"I like all versions of you, but this one is my favorite," Rachel smiled.

"Did you ask your dads about us camping out in your back this weekend yard?" Finn asked changing the subject.

"Yes, they're all for it, in fact they're going to join us." Rachel said nodding her head. "They haven't said anything, but I think they know about my little party a few weeks ago."

"How could they know?" Kurt asked. "I helped you clean up."

"I think one of the neighbors must have told them about all of the cars in the drive way," Rachel confessed. "Anyway Dad's going to get his outdoor kitchen out and make brats and kebobs for you guys, and Daddy wants to teach everyone how to limbo. The girls will have their tents on one side of the yard, and the guys will be on the other side."

"I'm glad that Hiram and Leroy are being responsible parents," Carole offered.

Finn pulled Rachel into the kitchen and whispered in her ear, "Your dads are going to throw a fine party, but before this summer is over I'm going to teach you all about camping in the woods."

But what will we do for baths in the woods?" Rachel asked.

"It's called skinny dipping," Finn whispered into her ear with a smile.

Saturday came and Finn, Kurt, and Blaine were at Rachel's house early to help set up. Her fathers had bought plenty of foot and soft drinks. Rachel was outside hanging strings of patio lights while the boys set up tents. Puck soon arrived with a load of firewood for the outdoor fireplace.

All of the Glee kids except for Quinn began showing up around sunset. Quinn said that she really wasn't the outdoorsy type, but everyone knew it was because both Sam and Finn would be there. She had betrayed Sam and made a fool of herself with Finn.

Hiram took charge of his stainless steel outdoor kitchen and soon had hot dogs, hamburgers, brats, and kebobs grilling. Leroy thought that it was a sin that the kids hadn't been exposed to the limbo and proceeded to lead the line dancing to a Jamaican beat.

"Your dads really know how to throw a party," Blaine said to Rachel. "They're having as good a time as we are."

"I think that they found out about my party a few weeks ago, and decided to be here tonight. This is my first co-ed camping party sleepover."

"I think that this is everyone's first co-ed camping party sleep over," Blaine smiled back.

The party had been going on for about two hours when the police showed up. The same neighbors who had threatened to sue the Berry's for Rachel's singing had called them.

When the police saw that the party was chaperoned by not one but two lawyers, they asked them to turn down the volume and left.

Puck had a good fire going so everyone decided it was time to sit around the fire roast marshmallows and begin the ghost stories.

Rachel started off the ghost stories with a story about Civil War Rebel and Union soldiers who were killed and left unburied in the Ohio area but rose on moonless nights to refight the battles that they had died in.

Puck was the next to entertain the group with ghost stories surrounding the Moonville, Ohio abandoned train tunnel and the nearby train trestle. Brittany and Santana most enjoyed the part about the young woman who was killed by a train while crossing the trestle at night. She had slipped away to meet her secret lover but her foot had become wedged between the railroad ties. The train engineer saw her but couldn't stop the train in time.

Puck's story also included the tale of the brakeman who was crushed under a train in the tunnel. Many times since then a ghostly figure carrying a brakeman's red lantern had been seen at the far end of the tunnel.

Artie was next and his ghost story was about the ghost train of Abraham Lincoln. President Lincoln had been shot and later died on April 16, 1865. After an elaborate funeral in Washington DC, a funeral train carrying his body left Washington on April 21, 1865 on a 1,700 round-about journey to Lincoln's home in Springfield, Illinois.

A large portrait of Lincoln was mounted on the front of the locomotive with red, white, and blue buntings on the side. The funeral car was draped in black crepe and bore not only Lincoln's open coffin, but the coffin of Lincoln's exhumed son Willie who had died earlier.

The train's route crossed most of Ohio including stops in Cleveland on its way to another stop in Columbus. Millions of people lined the tracks to get a glimpse of the slow moving train as it passed before it reached its final destination in Springfield on May 3, 1865.

Artie continue telling the story of how a ghost train started appearing on the same tracks about a year after Lincoln's death. People reported seeing a large blue-white light approach them on the tracks at night. Even on the coldest night, the air surrounding the approaching train would become warm. The locomotive was manned by skeletons in train engineer's clothing. The train car carrying the body of Lincoln was guarded by ghostly figures dressed in Union blue uniforms holding their rifles with fixed bayonets at their side.

When the ghost train had passed the on lookers, their watches had been stopped for six minutes and their hair and clothes were saturated with the smell of coal smoke coming from the train's steam engine. The train had been sighted many times over the years, but always during the last two weeks of April.

When Artie concluded his ghost story, the girls decided that it was time for bed. They had heard enough of the Ohio area ghost stories, and the boys were enjoying frightening them too much.

Hiram and Leroy delegated the girls to one side of the yard and the boys to the other side. They slept in a tent in the middle of the yard like guard dogs keeping the teens apart.

Later that night Rachel got up to go to the bathroom, and when she returned she found Brittany sitting beside what was left of their campfire.

"Brittany, why are you up? Can't you sleep?" Rachel asked.

"Oh I can sleep, I'm just listening for the train," Brittany answered.

"What train? The nearest railroad tracks are miles from here," Rachel told her.

"I'm listening for Abraham Lincoln's train. I want to ask him about chopping down the cherry tree and his wooden teeth," Brittany said with the most assured look on her face.

"Brittany, you've got Lincoln mixed with up with some false stories about George Washington. Abraham Lincoln has been dead for over a hundred years, and there're no train tracks for miles," Rachel said in total disbelief.

"If the Polar Express train can go anywhere without tracks, so can Abraham Lincoln's train. He's a president you know." Brittany answered unmoved by what Rachel was saying.

"Come on Brittany," Rachel said, pulling Brittany by the arm. "We've got to find Artie and let him explain Lincoln's ghost train to you. I think he's sharing the blue tent with Finn."

Rachel went over to Finn's blue tent, unzipped the tent flap and whispered, "Finn, Finn, is Artie in here with you?"

"Yeah, he's in here. Did you get cold and want to snuggle with me?" Finn whispered back half asleep.

"No, I need Artie to explain to Brittany about the ghost train and that Lincoln didn't cut down a cherry tree and that he didn't have wooden teeth," Rachel said pulling Brittany into the boy's tent behind her.

"Do you mean Lincoln didn't have wooden teeth?" Finn said rubbing his eyes.

"Not you too," Rachel whispered to Finn. "The two of you must have been in the same history class together."

"I'm just kidding," Finn said pulling Rachel to him.

"Oh no you don't, if my dads catch me in here they'll never trust me again," Rachel whispered pulling out of his grasp.

The next morning the boys awoke to a pouring rain. Everything in their campsite was soaked. Looking for the girls the boys couldn't find them. As soon as the rain has started, the girls plus Hiram, Leroy, Kurt and Blaine had retreated into the Berry house and were all asleep in the warm dry house

"You wussed out on me," Finn said when he finally found Rachel sharing her queen size bed with Mercedes.

"I may not have had a mom, but my two dads didn't raise a fool," Rachel said giving Finn a quick good morning peck on the lips. "A warm dry bed trumps a wet tent anytime."

-/-

Until the next chapter, thank you for the reviews. I really appreciate them, Whistler Nights.


	3. Chapter 3 Summer 2010

**Summer 2011 – Chapter 3**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters.)

The backyard camping at Rachel's had started off great, but the sudden cloud burst sometime after midnight had sent the girls plus Kurt, Blaine, Hiram, and Leroy inside. Finn, Artie, Sam, Puck, and Mike had slept through the down pour and were soaked when dawn came.

The five drenched boys came into the Berry's kitchen to the smell of the blueberry pancakes and hot coffee. By the time everyone had eaten, Leroy had fixed dozens of pancakes. Hiram had brewed at least three pots of coffee.

"So everyone?" Finn asked. "Our first camping experience may have been a wash out in the end, but are you girls still interested in a camping trip to Lake Erie later in the summer? There won't be a warm dry house to retreat to, or hot showers, and the cooking will be over a fire."

"That sounds like a challenge," Rachel said sipping her coffee. "I'm up for it if we can forget the ghost stories. What do you say girls?"

The girls all agreed that they were up to the challenge too.

"Okay, but on one condition. All of you girls have to leave the make-up and all of that girly stuff at home," Puck said upping the challenge.

"Fine with me, you guys are the ones that'll have to look at us without our make up on," Mercedes said throwing the challenge back at Puck.

"Fine, I'd like to see what all of you look like without your war paint on anyway," Puck answered with a sly grin.

"Don't forget that two a day football practices starts the first of August. If we're going to do this it'll have to be before then," Sam added.

"Before we can even think about that, we have to get all of that camping equipment out there dry," Finn said looking out the window. "I'm not sleeping in a mildewed tent."

The kids finished their breakfast and the boys started on the camping gear while the girls cleaned up the Berry kitchen.

Everyone thanked Hiram and Leroy for breakfast and the party the night before and cleaned up the yard before they left.

"I think everyone had a good time," Rachel said to Finn as they hung up two tents in her garage to dry.

"Your dads are the greatest. They provided all of that delicious food and music and took care of the police last night. I don't know if it was the limbo challenge with Leroy or sleeping on the ground last night, but my back is sore this morning. I'm going home and get a hot shower and some dry clothes. I'll be back later to help you with any more cleaning up," Finn said kissing Rachel on top of the head.

"You can take a shower here," Rachel offered.

"Thanks, but all of my clothes are either wet or smell like campfire smoke. I won't be gone that long," Finn said heading to his truck.

Finn went home to find that Kurt already had his dirty clothes in the washer, and he could hear the shower running.

"Great," Finn thought to himself. "By the time Kurt finishes there won't be any hot water left."

Finn found Carole and Burt in the kitchen enjoying the Sunday paper and some coffee.

"Would you two mind if I used your bathroom since Kurt is using ours. I promised Rachel that I'd be right back to help her clean up after our camping trip last night," Finn asked.

"Sure we're done with it. How did it go last night?" Kurt says that you guys slept through that rain storm and that the police came," Burt asked.

"Yeah, Rachel's has some picky neighbors, but Hiram and Leroy were there and they took care of the police. Leroy had the music going and he was trying to teach us all how to limbo. I lost because I'm so tall. I think that's why I need a hot shower, my back hurts."

Finn took his shower, put his dirty clothes by the washer, and then headed back over to Rachel's house to help Hiram and Leroy return their manicured lawn to its pre-party glory.

After their pristine yard was restored, Hiram and Leroy retired to their study to work on some briefs for the following week. Like the Sunday before, Rachel and Finn spent a lazy Sunday afternoon rocking back and forth in the hammock on the patio.

"Finn I wanted to ask you, I've heard that Sam and Santana have broken up. Do you know anything about it? I heard that she gave him a case of chlamydia," Rachel asked.

"That's not what I heard. I heard that Santana wants to be with Brittany, but I think that everyone except Sam knew that was coming eventually," Finn yawned.

"From what we've seen, I'm not surprised," Rachel yawned back. "I just feel sorry for Artie if that's the case. First he's dumped for a guy who can walk and dance. Now he would be dumped for another girl. That's got to be a blow to his ego."

"I think that Artie saw the writing on the wall before he ever started up with her. Brittany doesn't want to hurt Artie so I think she's waiting on him to dump her," Finn said fighting to stay awake.

Soon both of them were sound asleep in the hammock. They were still sleeping when Hiram woke them up for a dinner of party left-overs.

Summer continued to melt one day into the next. Finn was keeping up with his exhausting schedule with Park and Rec and Rachel was babysitting more and more for Beth. Shelby was taking classes at OSU-Lima for her master's degree.

Blaine was renting Finn's old room from Shelby and was back and forth between his home town and Lima. One day while Rachel was reading to Beth Blaine asked her, "I'm available, why doesn't Shelby ever ask me to baby-sit for Beth? Doesn't she trust me to take good care of her?"

"I think Shelby has an ulterior motive working here," Rachel answered. "She wants Beth to know her big sister. I never knew Shelby until last year, and our first meetings weren't what I dreamed they would be. She said that I had surpassed her, and she didn't have anything to teach me. That's why she adopted a baby. Beth is her second change. We have since reconciled, but it's been a cautious reconciliation. I think she thinks Beth might be the bridge to bring the three of us together. It has nothing to do with not trusting you."

"I'm glad that you told me. I've offered to baby-sit for Beth, but Shelby always says that she already has you lined up," Blaine confessed.

"Finn is working late again tonight. He has to pitch for the Cardinals coach pitch baseball team. It's really a lot of fun watching those five and six year olds play. I was going to take Beth in her stroller to watch the game. Would you like to come along? We can ask Kurt to join us too," Rachel asked.

"Sure, that sounds like a lot of fun, I'll give Kurt a call and ask him to meet us there," Blaine offered.

Kurt was already in the stands when Blaine and Rachel walked up pushing Beth's stroller.

Finn was on the field warming up with his team. When Finn saw them approach, he ran over and kissed Rachel over the fence. Then Rachel and Beth joined Blaine and Kurt to watch the game.

"It's amazing to see how good Finn is with all those little kids," Blaine observed. "Even when they mess up, he pats them on the back and tells them that it was a good try."

"Finn is just a big kid himself," Rachel smiled to herself.

When the game was over, Blaine rode home with Kurt in the Navigator. Rachel and Finn pushed Beth back to Shelby's house in the stroller. Crossing the park they saw an elderly couple slowly walking toward them holding hands tightly.

"Do you think that could be us someday?" Finn asked. "I see them here almost every day. She walks with a cane, and he holds he holds her other hand like he's afraid that she'll fall."

As the aging couple approached, the lady had to stop and speak to Beth.

"The two of you certainly have a beautiful daughter. I can see that she has her mother's smile and her father's eyes," the old woman said to Rachel and Finn.

Rachel started to correct the old woman when Finn stopped her with a slight shake of his head.

After they had passed the elderly couple, Rachel asked Finn why he had stopped her.

"Let the woman have her fantasy. It's not a half- bad fantasy," Finn said smiling down at Rachel.

A few days later everyone received a text message from Mr. Schue. He wanted everyone who could make it to come to his house and plan for the Fourth of July Concert in the Park. All of the members except for Santana made it. Brittany told them that Santana was working as a car hop at Sonic and wouldn't be there. The Fourth was one of Sonic's busiest days and her boss wouldn't let her off.

It was agreed, Mercedes would start their set off with the National Anthem, followed by two other patriotic songs. Their set would end with their trademark, _Don't Stop_ _Believing_. Rachel would cover Santana's line in the song.

The Fourth of July came on a Monday which meant a long holiday weekend. Finn had to work many of the activities that the Park and Rec had planned, but was finally free by 6:00 Monday evening. Finn met with his family and Rachel's family for a picnic in the park. Rachel had brought vegetarian and vegan food, but Finn was glad when he saw Burt breaking out the fired chicken, apple pie, and homemade ice cream. Carole's pregnancy hadn't been as easy one and Burt had done all of the cooking.

Carole had scolded Burt about his food choices, but Burt explained to her that it wouldn't be the Fourth of July without fried chicken and apple pie. It was patriotic.

Later that evening everyone found a place to watch the fireworks. Finn and Rachel picked a grassy spot off to themselves and spread out a blanket.

Finn was stretched out on his back looking at the stars and Rachel had her head resting on his chest. Rachel couldn't help but notice, but not too far from them Quinn and Sam were sitting together waiting for the fireworks to begin too.

"Are they back together?" Rachel whispered to Finn.

"No, but they're talking," Finn whispered back.

As the fireworks started exploding over head, Finn sat up and watched in amazement. He was like a little kid on Christmas morning. When the fireworks were finally over everyone was picking up their blankets to leave. Rachel noticed that Sam and Quinn were already gone.

Rachel snuggled up to Finn and asked, "I have to ask, you once said that you saw fireworks when you kissed Quinn….."

Finn cut her off, "And you never let me finish. Kissing Quinn was exciting, but like fireworks, it didn't last. Kissing you is like the thunder and lightning storm that goes on all night long followed by blinding sunlight in the morning. There's no comparison. Rachel, you're a force of nature."

"That's the most romantic thing that you've ever said to me Finn Hudson," Rachel smiled leaning in for a thunder and lightning kiss.

July passed as quickly as June had and football practice began on August first. The hottest month of the year.

Coach Beiste had the team on the field at dawn in the morning and again after sunset in the evenings. Finn had to cut back on his hours at Park and Rec, but still had a full day.

Puck was showering after morning work outs when he turned to Finn and Sam and said, "You know, we never got that camping trip to Lake Erie in this summer. Why don't we all plan to go over the Labor Day weekend? Beiste has it marked on the calendar as three days off."

"That works for me, but my new baby brother is due any day now," Finn said drying his hair. "I want to be here for that, and I'm sure Kurt does too."

"I can't believe that you're going to have a brother who is seventeen years younger than you are. But the way you and Rachel have been strolling Beth around the park, you two look like naturals," Mike added.

At the sound of Beth's name, Puck dropped his head. Finn saw his reaction and immediately changed the subject back to the camping trip.

School started and Finn and Rachel entered McKinley as seniors, and as members of the National Award winning New Directions. The trophy was so large; a new display case had to be built for it. At Glee practice there were more than a dozen new kids waiting to audition for New Directions and the Jazz Band.

"I'm glad that Glee has finally become popular, but when you think about it, we're looking at our replacements," Rachel said to Finn.

"Yes, but we have this year to get them in shape," Finn smiled back.

The first football game of the season was scheduled for Friday night and Finn was still QB1 and Sam was QB2.

"I'm still waiting for you to mess up," Sam said to Finn.

Finn didn't mess up, but Sam did get his shot to lead the team that Friday night. Zachary Hudson Hummel was born at 8:35 Friday evening. All nine pounds, nine ounces of him. Finn was grinning ear to ear as he held his little brother.

"He looks like a football player," Finn said to Kurt proudly.

"Yes, but he's going to be a football player with style and class," Kurt retorted.

By 10:00 that night Carole's room and the hall outside were filled with dirty football players and cheerleaders.

"Did we win?" Finn asked Sam.

"Of course we did, what did you expect?" Sam answered with a smirk.

"What's his name?" Brittany asked.

"Zachary Hudson Hummel," Kurt answered with pride.

"I'm calling him the Zach Attack!" Finn grinned.

The nurses soon told the noisy group that it was time to leave. It was late and Carole and Zack needed their

sleep.

The next couple of weeks were exhausting at the Hummel/Hudson home. Zach slept peacefully through much of the day, but was awake at night. Finn and Kurt had spent so many nights listening to a crying baby that they were looking forward to their Labor Day camping trip.

As Kurt and Finn were packing Kurt's Navigator and Finn's truck that Saturday morning, Burt almost looked like he wanted to go with them. Blaine soon arrived with a cooler full of soft drinks. He stashed them in the back of Finn's truck and put his camping gear in the Navigator.

Finn picked up Rachel on the way and soon all fourteen of them were heading for the shores of Lake Erie.

By nightfall, their tents were pitched and a blazing campfire was going. As promised, Finn had a large pot of chili going over the fire. He had also made a small pot of vegetarian chili for Rachel and Kurt.

"Remember, you said no ghost stories tonight," Rachel said as they sat around the fire that first night.

"And you girls promised to leave your war paint at home," Puck teased back. "Sam and I brought our guitars and we're going to sing all of the songs that Mr. Schue won't let us sing."

A little before midnight, Rachel said that she was tired of singing and wanted to walk on the beach before bed. Finn jumped up to go with her.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Mercedes leaned in and whispered to the group, "Five dollars says that they have sex on the beach."

"No way," answered Puck. "Five dollars say that they slipped off for a little skinny dipping."

"You're on," Mercedes answered back.

"How are you going to know? We aren't going to spy on them are we?" Sam asked with a worried look on his face.

"If Rachel comes back with sand in her hair, then it was sex on the beach. If she comes back with wet hair then it was skinny dipping," Puck answered smugly.

"You're all disgusting," Quinn said shaking her head.

Finn and Rachel walked about half a mile from the group in the moonlight. They could still see the campfire in the distance when they found a spot to sit down and make out.

"I think that we should have brought a towel to lie on," Rachel said between Finn's eager kisses.

"If we'd brought a towel, they'd all know what we're doing." Finn gasped as he pulled Rachel shirt over her head and went straight for her bikini stings.

"I think they already know what we're doing," Rachel sighed as she pulled Finn's shirt off and attempted to use it for something to lie on.

Twenty minutes later they were both panting and covered with sweat and sand.

"I always thought sex on the beach would be mind blowing. At least it is in the movies. The sex was great, but I've got sand in some very uncomfortable places," Rachel said between gasps.

"Me too," Finn said panting for breath. "Since we're already naked, how about some skinny dipping to wash some of this sand off. There's no way that I can sleep tonight with this much sand on me."

"Race you," Rachel squealed as she charged toward the surf. Finn caught up to her when she was shoulder high in the water.

He came up behind her and started washing the sand off of her back with his hands.

"There's a lot of sand in your hair. Do you want me to help you try to wash it out?" Finn asked as she turned to him.

"Please," Rachel said with a smile before she held her nose and dunked her head in the water.

Finn was doing his best to get the sand out of her hair, but the naked Rachel in front of him was once again disrupting his concentration. As the waves lapped back and forth, her breast were covered when the waves came in, and exposed when the waves went out. Finn soon forgot about the sand in her hair. Helping her up Rachel wrapped her legs around his waist and kissed him deeply.

"I think we're canceling out all of their bets," Finn whispered as he kissed her neck.

"What bets?" Rachel sighed.

"Whether we would have sex on the beach or if we went skinny dipping and had sex in the water," Finn said between moans.

Later as the pair approached the campfire, Puck was looking at Rachel's hair to see if it was wet or full of sand.

"Her hair's wet," Puck announced happily. All bets on skinny dipping wins. All you sex on the beach people pay up."

"Not so fast," Rachel said taking Puck by the arm. "Everybody wins tonight."

Puck looked at Finn with an astonished look on his face.

Finn just gave Puck the biggest grin as Puck offered him a high five.

Rachel and Finn didn't know how the other slept that night, but they slept very well. Getting dressed the next morning, Rachel was digging through her duffle bags when she made a shocking discovery.

"Finn, I forgot my birth control pills," Rachel said apprehensively. "They're in my make-up bag and I didn't bring it."

"You've only missed one, haven't you? Finn asked.

"Actually two, but by the time we get back it will be four," Rachel said biting her lip.

"How many do you have to miss before you can get pregnant?" Finn asked swallowing hard.

"I don't know, I'm new at this. It has to do with where you are in your cycle."

"Do you want me to call my mom and ask her if you can get pregnant if you miss four pills, she's a nurse you know?"

Rachel only gave him an "Are you crazy look?"

"Can you borrow some pills from one of the other girl's?" Finn asked hopefully.

"You can't take someone else's pills. They aren't like aspirin."

"Can you call your doctor's office and ask them to call in a prescription near here?"

"It's Labor Day; no one is going to be in the office.

We'll have to use condoms until we get back home on Monday and I can take my pills."

Their conversation ended but both of them were thinking a lot about the possibilities. Rachel was almost sure she couldn't get pregnant after missing four pills. Finn wasn't sure about anything. They had an okay weekend, but neither one was interested in anymore sex.

-/- Until the next chapter, please keep reviewing. Thank you, Whistler Nights


	4. Chapter 4 Don't Go In The Water

**Don't Go In the Water! - Chapter 4**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters. I have tried to research the data included in this chapter, but don't hold me to it.)

-/-

On the Monday morning of their Labor Day Lake Erie trip, Finn and Rachel were up early packing up their camping gear. Finn's truck was almost packed when Puck stumbled out of his tent.

"What's your hurry?" Puck asked. "We can hang out on the beach until at least three, pack up our gear, and still be home before dark."

"Rachel has a paper that she wants to work on, and I thought that I might give Mom a break from Zach for awhile," Finn lied.

He and Rachel really wanted to get home so she could get her birth control pills, and find out exactly what they were facing by having sex and missing so many pills. They had both worried silently about the possibility of an unwanted pregnancy since the morning when Rachel realized that she had left her pills at home in her make-up bag.

Loading the last of their gear in the truck, Finn woke up Kurt and asked to bring anything that they may have forgotten.

Finally in the truck, Rachel was sitting by the passenger door.

"You don't have to sit all the way over there. That's what this bench seat is for," Finn said to a clearly worried Rachel. He held out his arm and she slid across the seat next to him and fastened the center seat belt around herself.

"Finn, I want you to know that I didn't do this on purpose," Rachel said finally able to have a private conversation.

"I know that you didn't," Finn said trying to reassure her. "We've got a lot to talk about, and I've been waiting two days to talk to you alone. Since this maybe my second trip down baby drama road, I'd like to tell you how I feel about the situation first, if that's okay with you?"

Rachel only nodded as she gave Finn a worried look.

"First," Finn began. "I think that we may be getting ahead of ourselves. We don't know if you are pregnant or not. Until we know the facts, let's not assume the worst."

"Second, if you are pregnant, I'm not going anywhere."

"Third, I'm not for abortion."

"Fourth, personally, I'm not really for adoption. When I thought Beth was mine, I didn't want to give her up."

"Rachel, you're the only one in our senior class that really has a shot at becoming somebody. I won't tie you to a Lima loser like me. The ultimate choices are yours. I'm here for you, but unlike last time, I would like to be included in the decision making."

Rachel took Finn's hand and smiled a shy smile.

"Thanks Finn for sharing you thoughts with me. I think you're right. Until we know the facts, we're getting ahead of ourselves. But I want you to know that I'm not for abortion either. And I don't know if I could give up a baby that was mine for adoption either. As far as you being a Lima loser, you're not, and I want you to stop thinking that way."

"I'm going to get to Broadway," Rachel continued. "I may have to put my dreams on hold, but I'll get there. I won't tie to you to me just because there maybe a baby involved. That's what Quinn was trying to do to you and I won't do it."

"Well let's not cross that bridge until we come to it," Finn said smiling at her. "But Rachel, I want you to know two things. Baby or no baby, Broadway or no Broadway, I want to be with you."

"I want to be with you too," she smiled back at him through shining eyes.

Finn and Rachel rode the rest of the way home talking about a lot of little things and sometimes not even talking at all. Rachel was glad when they finally pulled up in front of her house that her dads were at a Labor Day picnic with a client.

"I'll get your things out of the truck if you want to run up stairs and take care of your pills," Finn said to her as she jumped out of the truck.

A few minutes later, Finn walked into her bedroom to find Rachel holding her pills and talking to someone on her cell phone.

When the call ended she turned to Finn who was sprawled out on her bed waiting for news.

"I called the hot line number on the back of my birth control pills," Rachel told Finn. "The nurse that I talked to really didn't think that I could be pregnant given the dates, but the pills aren't 100% effective even when taken correctly. She told me not to take the four missed pills, but to wait until after my next period and then start a new pack. If I don't get my period on time, I should go ahead and take a pregnancy test around the 23rd. She also recommended that if we do have sex that we use at least two forms of over the counter birth control."

"Why can't you go ahead and take a pregnancy test now?" Finn asked hopefully.

"It's too soon," Rachel sighed.

"You said that the pills aren't 100% effective. What kind of odds are we talking about?" Finn wanted to know.

"The pamphlets that came with my pills says 98% if taken correctly, which I didn't do," Rachel said reading the instructions again.

"So does that mean that we should be counting the number of times that we have sex on the calendar and on the 99th or 100th time we'll hit the baby jack pot?" Finn asked naively.

"No that's not what that means. I thought you were good in math. It's about random chances. The drug companies can't say 100% anyway, or they would be paying for a lot of little accidents out there. The only 100% ways are abstinence or sterilization," Rachel said shaking her head at Finn's question.

"Ouch, let's not talk sterilization," Finn said shielding his junk with his hands.

Rachel had to laugh for the first time all day.

"The nurse did say that she didn't think that I could be pregnant given the dates, so let's just go with that for now and see what happens." Rachel said giving Finn a quick kiss on the forehead.

Finn helped Rachel put her camping gear away before he headed home. Rachel did have a paper that she wanted to work on, and Finn knew that his mom could probably use a nap. Zach was colicky and had been keeping everyone up at night. When Finn got home he took his baby brother for a long stroller ride in the park.

As Finn was pushing the fussy Zach around the park, he prayed that the possible pregnancy was a false alarm. How much more baby drama could he take? Finn thought to himself. It was Beth last year and his brother Zach this year. Zach's long hours of crying at night was making the idea of becoming a monk seem down right tempting.

The next day at school Puck and Sam were talking about their camping trip and how much fun it had been.

"Why'd you check out on us early?" Puck asked. "We could've used your height in our last game of beach volleyball."

"Ah, Rach and I had stuff to do," Finn said avoiding the question.

When everyone arrived for Glee practice that afternoon, Mr. Schue told Finn and Sam that Coach Beiste wanted to talk to both of them in her office ASAP.

Sam and Finn found Coach Beiste waiting in her office.

"Close the door and have a seat," Coach Beiste said to them. "Boys, I know that Finn is interested in OSU and I happen to know a scout in their athletic department. I don't know what your intentions are Sam, but this scout would like to come and watch the both of you play. I sent him some game tapes and he liked Finn's height and accuracy and Sam's speed and agility. Do you think one or both of you might be interested?"

"Damn straight, oh excuse me, I mean yes of course," Sam said excitedly. "I'd love to play for the Buckeyes!"

Finn was already on his feet fist pumping the air.

"I take that as a yes," Coach Beiste said to Finn. "We have a non conference game on the 23rd. I'll see if I can set something up for that Friday, but this conversation is between the three of us, got that?"

The 23rd Finn thought to himself. That was around the time the nurse had told Rachel to take the pregnancy test if she hadn't gotten her period by then. How was he going to concentrate on impressing an OSU football scout with that on his mind?

Sam and Finn left the coach's office and Sam was clearly more excited than Finn.

"Hey man," Sam whispered to Finn. "OSU is what you wanted. You should be jumping for joy."

"Oh, I am," Finn whispered back. "I've just got a lot on my mind. Remember that Coach Beiste said to keep this to ourselves for now."

The next few days seemed to move in slow motion for Finn. Each morning when Rachel got into his truck he lifted his eyebrow asking the unsaid question. Each day Rachel shook her head no.

His game was also slipping. Coach Beiste was beginning to wish that she hadn't told him about the OSU scout. At that week's game Sam had to take over for him. Finn's head was definitely not in the game.

That night Finn had one nightmare after another. Visions of Beiste yelling at him haunted his dreams. No sooner than he had recovered from that nightmare than he was having another about Beth, Zach, and his "maybe baby" surrounding him screaming at once. Images of Sam being offered a full ride to OSU while he was being buried alive in dirty diapers woke him up in a sweat.

He finally went back to sleep but Kurt woke him up around dawn.

"Damn it Finn, if you can't answer your phone, would you at least cut it off?" Kurt snapped at him shoving his phone into his hand. "Some of us would like to get some sleep now that Zach has finally stopped crying."

Finn opened one eye and saw that he multiple text messages from Rachel. He only read one message before he was wide awake. It contained one single word –SHARKS!

Usually Finn dreaded shark week almost as much as Rachel did, but after the last couple of days he had never been happier.

By eight that Saturday morning Finn was standing on Rachel's door step with a sunflower in his hand.

When Rachel answered the door he leaned forward, kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear. "Miss Berry I would like to congratulate you on NOT being with child and would like to take you to breakfast to celebrate."

"Mr. Hudson, I would be delighted," Rachel whispered back as she hugged him peppering kisses on his cheek.

-/- Until the next chapter, thank you for the review and alerts! Whistler Nights


	5. Chapter 5 I've Got Your Back

**I've Got Your Back – Chapter 5**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters.)

Finn and Rachel were just finishing their celebratory "no maybe baby" breakfast when Finn pushed his plate aside and reached across the table for Rachel's hand.

"We dodged a bullet this time," Finn said to Rachel. "You wouldn't believe the bizarre dreams that I had last night."

"I know, I've had one long panic attack this week myself. I don't think that I'm ready to be a teenage mother."

"Rachel, making love to you is the most awesome thing that I've ever done in my entire life. But I know that you were seeing your Juilliard dreams slip away when you thought that you might be pregnant. I can't let an accidental pregnancy mess up your plans."

"What about you and Ohio State University? Isn't the scout from their athletic department coming to next week's game?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, but if I don't play any better than I did last night, he's not going to be very impressed. Sam stepped up and saved the win for us. Coach Beiste will probably start him next Friday if I don't prove myself in practice this week," Finn frowned.

"You've had a lot on your mind, but like you said, we dodged a bullet this time," Rachel offered. "It was careless of me to forget my birth control pills. I won't let it happen again."

"What's the failure rate for condoms?" Finn asked.

"The failure rate for condoms is even higher than birth control pills especially if you don't use them correctly or if they break," Rachel answered.

"Break?" Finn asked raising one eyebrow.

"Yes, they do break. Don't you remember telling me about how you and Noah found some of his dad's and you were using them for water balloons?"

"Oh I forgot about that, we were little kids then," Finn said bowing his head in embarrassment.

"We'll figure something out," Finn said as he rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. "Our dreams are too big to risk another baby scare, and I agree with you. I'm not finished being a kid myself, I'm not ready to have one."

Finn then smiled his big lop sided grin before he paid the check and they walked hand in hand back to his truck.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Finn asked.

"No, not really, what do you have in mind?"

"I've been trying to work on my essay for my Ohio State application, and I'd very much like your opinion," Finn said smiling at her.

"I'd be happy to read over it and give you an opinion. Did they give you a prompt?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, and I couldn't have asked for a better question. It's about the state of Ohio and local schools not having enough money to pay for public schools. They want to know what my ideas are for making up the difference while still giving every student a good education."

"Finn this prompt is perfect for you. Many of the school districts in the United States are talking about eliminating middle school sports and all arts programs. Others have already begun laying off teachers and staff. As a three sport athlete and co-captain of this year's National Show Choir Championship Team, you have a lot to say," Rachel beamed.

"I do have a lot to say about keeping sports and the arts in the schools. I'm just stuck on a solution for the problem," Finn said rubbing the back of his neck.

"Then we need to get busy researching and come up with some facts and concrete ideas. I can't write the essay for you, but I can show you where to look for some information. If you have facts to back up your opinions it will make a better impression on the admissions office," Rachel smiled.

Finn and Rachel spent the rest of the day at her house pouring over their lap tops. By the end of the day, Finn had a stack of note cards brimming with the information that he needed to write a kick ass essay.

On Sunday, Rachel had to baby sit for Beth and Finn worked on his rough draft for the admissions essay all day.

Monday came, and Finn knew that all of his attention now needed to be focused on football practice that week. The Ohio State scout would be at Friday night's game, and Finn had to make up for his miserable performance the Friday before.

As Finn walked into school that morning, he couldn't help but notice that a school maintenance man was outside of Mrs. Pillsbury/Howell's office changing the name on her door back to Ms. Pillsbury.

Rumors circulated all day around school about Miss Pillsbury and her dentist husband splitting up. By Glee practice the rumor mill was churning out some far fetched gossip.

"Mr. Schue, are you the reason Miss Pillsbury and her luscious husband are calling it quits?" Santana asked as she came through the door.

"No, whatever gave you that idea?" Mr. Schue questioned Santana. "They just decided that they didn't have enough in common and decided to have their marriage annulled. They're still friends."

"I knew it," Santana whispered to Brittany. "They never consummated their marriage!"

"I always hated consummating too," Brittany said dryly.

"What are you talking about?" Santana questioned.

"You know that stuff that they make us do in English class. I am, you are, he, she and it is. We are, you are, they are. I never saw the need for doing any of that either," Brittany replied.

"Brittany, you've got consummation mixed up with conjugation," Santana said shaking her head.

"What's the difference?" Brittany asked naively.

"Conjugation has to do with verbs. Consummation is when you have sex for the first time after the wedding. It's what you do on your wedding night, it sort of seals the deal," Santana said looking at the confused blonde.

"I was wondering what you did on your wedding night since most people have already had lots of sex before then. You seal the deal. I'm going to stay single, and just have sex. Sealing the deal sounds like too much paper work and I'm not good at math," Brittany surmised to herself. "Santana, you never told me what annulled means. Is it like annoyed?"

"No, but I'm getting annoyed right now," Santana said rolling her eyes.

Brittany's eyes were widening when Mr. Schue asked for everyone's attention and started the practice.

By Friday the gossip surround Miss Pillsbury and her annulment had died down. Brittany still didn't really understand what verbs had to do with sealing the deal and being annoyed, but Santana had promised to explain it all to her.

-/-

Finn redeemed himself at the weekday football practices leading up to Friday night's game. When the ref tossed the coin for the opening kick off, Finn was again QB1.

By half time, the Titans were up by four touch downs and Coach Beiste sat Finn down and let Sam lead the team for the remaining third and fourth quarters.

As Finn sat on the bench watching the team play out the last two quarters, he scanned the stands for anyone who might be an Ohio State recruiter. Finn never picked anyone out who looked like they might be from the OSU athletic department and was beginning to wonder if OSU had sent anyone after all.

Sam and Finn were showered, dressed and heading out to their vehicles when Coach Beiste stopped them.

"They didn't come, did they?" Finn asked his coach dejectedly.

"What do you mean? Their scout was sitting up in the press box and was impressed by not one but both of you. He said that he would be back and would bring a few of his fellow recruiters with him next time," Coach Beiste said slapping both boys on the back.

Finn found Rachel sitting in his truck waiting for him listening to the radio.

"Rachel, the scout was here. He liked both of us," Finn said giving Rachel a hug and a quick kiss.

"I'm so happy for you," Rachel giggled back. "I just wish that Ohio State was closer to Juilliard. I don't know how I'm going to make it being so far away from you."

"Ohio State is one of the top universities in the nation, and I'm just honored that they're even looking at me. I dreamed of being a Buckeye when I was a kid, but I never thought that I might actually have a chance."

"And I'm so proud of you too," Rachel beamed. "We can make a long distance relationship work. If we can survive McKinley drama, we can do anything."

-/-

The Glee kids had waited all their lives to be high school seniors and now the days were passing too quickly. The heat of August was fading as September quickly approached.

With September and October came harvest festivals, carnivals, and county fairs. It was on one of these brisk fall weekends that Finn, Rachel, and Kurt decided to take Blaine to his first county fair. It was over fifty miles away, but Kurt had offered to drive his Navigator so they could all go together.

The first thing Finn did at the fair was to win a pink teddy bear for Rachel at the football toss game. Then Rachel had to ride the merry-go-round and insisted that the three boys join her. All four competed against each other at the Whack A Mole game even though Kurt was the clear winner. Finn and Rachel walked around the fair grounds looking at all of the displays, games, and rides hand in hand. They were drawing no one's attention, but when Blaine and Kurt held hands, stares and gawking expressions could be seen at every turn.

"Maybe we shouldn't hold hands in public," Kurt whispered to Blaine. "We live in Ohio not New York or San Francisco."

"Are you ashamed to be seen with me?" Blaine asked Kurt while noticing a man who was giving the two a very menacing look.

"No I'm not; I just don't think that we should be asking for trouble. Did I tell you what Karofsky and Azimio did at the Monster Truck Rally in Columbus last February? They went down there and tried to beat up a gay couple just because they were gay," Kurt said trying not to notice the stares.

"Yes, and didn't the gay couple's friends put those two thugs in the hospital, and aren't they in jail now?" Blaine asked.

"Yes but only until they turn eighteen, and believe me there're plenty of haters out there to take their place until they get out."

Finn was afraid of heights, but Rachel had persuaded him to ride the Ferris wheel with her. Blaine and Kurt went off in search of some cotton candy and popcorn.

The Ferris wheel had made about three turns and Finn was beginning to relax when the wheel stopped with Finn and Rachel at the top.

"It's okay Finn," Rachel tried to reassure him. "They just stopped to let more people on. Let's see if we can spot Kurt and Blaine from up here."

"Do I have to open my eyes?" Finn asked gripping Rachel's hand tighter.

"Not if you don't want to, but I think that you might want to see this. Isn't that Kurt and Blaine over there near the carnival ride trailers? It looks like two men are trying to pick a fight with them."

Finn managed to open one eye and then the other. "Yes it's them and I think you're right. It looks like those guys have them cornered. How do we get off of this thing? I promised to have Kurt's back and I can't help him from up here?" Finn shouted forgetting his fear of heights.

Rachel already had her cell phone out calling 911.

The Ferris wheel started, but it took about two more turns before the operator realized that Finn and Rachel wanted off.

Jumping off of the Ferris wheel, Finn ran to where he had seen Kurt, Blaine and the two men. When he got to them Blaine was standing in front of Kurt trying to protect him from the two threatening thugs.

"What do you want?" one of the men shouted at Finn as he approached. "Do you want to have some fun with us?"

"No, that's my brother, and I'm not going to let you hurt either one of them," Finn shouted at the men.

"Ah come on, we only want the little one. I just want to mess up that pretty face until even his momma won't recognize him," the larger man snarled as he pulled out a knife.

"Don't talk about my mother, she's dead," Kurt said angrily.

"Well I guess that's a good thing," the larger man hissed before stepping closer to Blaine and Kurt. The man stopped when he saw Finn pick up a three foot metal tent stake from the carnival trailer.

"I'm warning you man, back off," Finn said raising the metal stake above his shoulder baseball style.

"Do you think three high school pansies scare us?" the shorter man said clinching his teeth.

"Make that four high school pansies!" Rachel screamed as she jumped on the shorter man's back armed with her can of pepper spray.

Rachel filled the man's eyes with the pepper spray, but managed to get the over spray on herself in the process.

As the taller man watched his friend hit the ground with Rachel still clawing his back, Finn swung the three foot tent stake with homerun force.

With the crack of a breaking knee cap, the taller man dropped the knife and hit the ground withering in pain.

Blaine grabbed the knife and the metal tent stake as Finn ran to pull Rachel away. Her eyes were on fire from the over spray, but she was safe.

Standing over their assailants, Blaine dared the two to move until the police and the paramedics showed up.

Once the paramedics had treated Rachel's eyes and the police had arrested the two men, the four found Kurt's Navigator and headed back to Lima.

Finn drove while Blaine held on tightly to Kurt in the back seat. The paramedics had determined that Kurt wasn't in shock, but he was badly shaken up.

Carole and Burt where waiting when the four made it home. Carole gave Rachel some eye drops and a cold compress for her eyes while Burt was ready to pound the two men who had done this into the ground.

"Finn and Rachel have already taken care of them," Blaine said to Burt. "Rachel pepper sprayed one of them really well while Finn broke the knee cap of the one with the knife."

Kurt spoke for the first time since they had left the fair.

"Thank you Finn, Rachel, and Blaine. I knew that there was hate out there, but I never imagined that it would be like this. Karofsky scared the hell out of me, but he never pulled a knife on me." Kurt said trembling. "I just stood there frozen and you three risked your lives for me."

"It's okay," Finn said wrapping his arm around Kurt's shoulder. "I told you that I had your back. When that thug pulled out that knife I had to swing."

"Finn, you once told me that we live in their world and we have to play by their rules. I understand what you meant now," Kurt said to his step brother.

"Blaine thank you for defending me until the Calvary arrived. That was very brave of you. I'll never put you in that kind of danger again," Kurt promised Blaine.

"Rachel, if I'm ever in that situation again, I hope that I have you in my corner. I never knew that such a little girl had so much fight in her. I think you and Finn make quite a team," Kurt blushed.

With Blaine's help, Kurt recovered from his brush with death and was soon back to his old self. He even started referring to Finn and Rachel as the Seventh Calvary.

"Wait, wasn't the Seventh Calvary commanded by General George Armstrong Custer? And wasn't the Seventh Calvary completely annihilated by Indians at the Battle of the Little Bighorn also known as Custer's Last Stand?" Rachel asked.

Kurt smiled at Rachel before he said, "I do believe you're right, but if you had been leading the charge, all of those Indians would have turned tail and ran."

-/-

Until the next chapter, thank you for all of your kind reviews. Whistler Nights.


	6. Chapter 6 Halloween and Thanksgiving

**Halloween and Thanksgiving – Chapter 6**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters.)

The air was turning colder and the trees more colorful. The dog-days of late summer where behind them and there was a crispness to the fall weather.

Halloween was quickly approaching and Finn and Rachel wanted to take Beth on her first trick-or-treating experience. Shelby was reluctant at first, Beth was only seventeen months old, but Finn and Rachel promised to only take her to the mall and go trick or treating from store to store.

Beth was well acquainted with Finn, Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine and called them Finn, Ray-Ray, Urt, and Bain. It please Finn that she could say his name

Blaine wanted to go out trick-or-treating with them, but Kurt was still shook up by the thugs at the fair. Instead they decided to be the ones who stayed home and handed out the candy.

Rachel and Finn first thought of dressing as Cinderella and Prince Charming, but Rachel balked at the idea of a blonde wig. They settled on Snow White and her prince instead.

Beth was absolutely adorable as a pint size ballerina.

Beth, Finn, and Rachel started out at one end of the mall with Beth in her stroller. A few of the first dressed up kids that they encountered scared Beth, so Finn ended up carrying her while Rachel pushed the stroller with her candy bag in it.

They had promised Shelby to have Beth home before dark so Finn and Rachel were making their way toward the mall exit when they encountered three teenage girls dressed as witches.

Are all three of you supposed to be Elphaba from the musical _Wicked?_" Rachel asked.

Finn and Rachel didn't recognize them at first, but as soon as Santana spoke they knew it was Santana, Brittany, and Quinn.

"No, Rachel, we're the Three Witches of Elswick and don't you think you would make a better dwarf than a Snow White?" Santana asked.

"Don't you think you three would be better as the Three Weird Sisters from Shakespeare's _Macbeth_?" Rachel said throwing the insult back to Santana.

"I didn't know that we were sisters," Brittany whispered to Santana.

As they bantered back and forth, Quinn said nothing but was mesmerized by the blonde toddler in Finn's arms.

"Where did you get the kid? Is it real? Is it yours?" Brittany asked.

"No she's not ours. She's my sister!" Rachel barked at Brittany.

"Is this Beth?" Quinn asked in a whisper.

"Yes, this is Beth," Rachel answered softly.

"What is she doing here? I thought Shelby Corcoran lived near Carmel," Quinn asked in surprise.

"Shelby moved here a few months ago and is renting Finn's old house from Carole. She couldn't get a mortgage for the house that she was trying to buy near Carmel. Blaine is renting Finn's old room from Shelby now," Rachel told Quinn.

Quinn really didn't hear anything that Rachel was saying past the "Yes, this is Beth" part.

Quinn reached out for Beth and asked Finn who was still carrying her, "May I hold her?"

Beth only saw a young woman dressed as a scary witch. The toddler had no way of knowing that this was her birth mother that was reaching for her.

Beth immediately started screaming and crying and was trying to climb even higher in Finn's arms.

"No, no!" Beth screamed.

Quinn withdrew her arms and Finn was trying his best to calm the terrified child down as she clung desperately to his neck.

"She doesn't know that it's you," Rachel said softly to Quinn. "She only sees your costume. I think that we should get Beth home now. She has had enough excitement for her first trick-or treating."

Beth continued to cry and scream, "No Finn, No Ray-Ray," as she held on to Finn as tightly as her tiny fists would hold her.

Quinn looked hurt, but then smiled. "She knows your name," she said to Finn. "I'm glad that you did get to be part of her life."

By the time Finn and Rachel got back to Shelby's house Beth had stopped crying and was enjoying Finn singing to her and rubbing her back.

"Thank goodness you're here," Kurt said making a bee line for Beth's candy bag. "Blaine has devoured our candy supply. I gave a can of beans to the last kid that came by."

"I had help," Blaine said reaching for Beth but noticed that she had been crying. Beth still had her death grip on Finn's neck.

"No," she said to Blaine.

"What's up with Beth?" Blaine asked.

"We ran into three witches trick-or-treating at the mall that scared her," Finn answered.

"Make that two real witches," Rachel said getting Beth some milk in her sippy cup. "Santana, Quinn, and Brittany were out there dressed up like Elphaba. Quinn wanted to hold Beth and she went ballistic. Quinn's costume scared her."

Before Shelby got home from her Monday night class, Rachel and Finn had gotten Beth fed, bathed and asleep.

"Shelby, I'm sorry, but while we were out trick or treating with Beth, we were approached by three teenage girls dressed as witches and it scared her," Rachel said.

"Is Beth alright? I thought trick or treating at the mall was for small children." Shelby asked worriedly.

"Beth's Prince Charming Finn calmed her down and she's fine. Shelby, I think the witches were there to buy extra make up, but I have to tell you something. One of the witches wanted to hold her. It was Quinn Fabray," Rachel said while biting her lip.

"Quinn Fabray? We have an open adoption and neither she nor Noah has made any effort to see Beth. Did you let Quinn hold her?"

"No, Finn was carrying her. Quinn's costume scared Beth and she hung onto Finn's neck like a leach. I think Quinn and Noah haven't made contact with Beth because they're afraid that it would open up old wounds." Rachel said in their defense. "I could see from the way Quinn was looking at Beth that she misses her."

"Okay, but if Beth has witch nightmares, I'm calling the two of you to comfort her." Shelby concluded.

Finn, Rachel and Kurt went out to Finn's old truck and headed home. Kurt waited while Finn walked Rachel to her door.

"It'll be okay," Finn said to Rachel. "Beth won't remember those witches."

"I hope not. I just hope that Quinn isn't going to cause trouble," Rachel said hugging Finn.

"I don't think she will. They have an open adoption, and Quinn's enjoying having her old life back too much," Finn said as he kissed Rachel's forehead.

-/-

With the passing of Halloween 2011, the stores were decked out with Christmas decorations almost over night. Thanksgiving was once again pushed to the consumer's peripheral vision as multiple versions of Santa Claus popped up on every street corner.

Not so at the Berry household. Thanksgiving was a holiday that they could share with their Jewish and Christian friends alike.

Leroy was a great Southern cook and Rachel wanted to invite the Hummels and the one remaining Hudson for Thanksgiving dinner and football on TV. Rachel still didn't like the idea of Mr. Schue spending the holiday alone so she persuaded him to come. She wanted to invite Shelby and Beth, but she was afraid that it might be awkward.

Blaine was going home to his parent's home for the holiday and had persuaded Kurt to accompany him. Kurt had met Mr. and Mrs. Anderson briefly before, but this was going to be four days with them and he was nervous. Mr. Anderson still hadn't accepted that his son was gay. He clung to the hope that his son would come around and that Kurt was a temporary misguided distraction.

On Thanksgiving morning Rachel and Leroy were working frantically putting the final touch on the feast. Hiram had put the leaves in the dining room table to make it larger and had brought out his mother's best china, crystal, and silverware. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade was playing in the back ground.

They were eating at 1:00, but around 11:00 Mr. Schue called the Berry household to see if he could bring a date.

He didn't tell them who, but Rachel was thinking that it might be Shelby, in the back of her mind.

By noon, Finn and Carole were coming though the front door with three warm pies. Pumpkin, Apple, and Pecan. Burt brought up the rear carrying Zack.

Everything was set and they were just waiting on Mr. Schue and his mystery date. Rachel bet Finn that it was Shelby. Finn was putting his money on Mr. Schue's ex wife.

At 12:45 the doorbell rang and there stood Mr. Schue with Emma Pillsbury. Mr. Schue introduced her to everyone. When they got to Finn and Rachel, Mr. Schue told them that the annulment of Emma's marriage had become official the day before.

"I'm so glad that you two are finally together," Rachel whispered to Emma. "Finn and I didn't know how much we were meant to be together until we were apart. I think the same is true for you and Mr. Schue. Finn and I are Finchel. We have the perfect name for you as a couple – Wilma!

"Like Wilma Flintstone? Emma asked apprehensively.

"No, it's the first part of Will and the last of Emma – Wilma!

"Well, we aren't officially a couple," Emma said tentatively. "Let hold off on the blended names for now, okay?"

Everyone sat down to the feast and Hiram recited a blessing in Hebrew. He then asked Finn for a Christian blessing before they began to eat. Finn folded his hands and recited his old stand by, "Good Food, Good Meat, It's Getting Late, Let's Eat," blessing when Carole kicked him under the table.

"Ouch, what'd you do that for?" Finn said to Carole reaching down to rub his shin.

She shot him a look, so he bowed his head again and started a rambling prayer of thanks for food, family, friends, and for the Buckeyes who were playing later that day.

Mean while Kurt was attempting to enjoy his Thanksgiving with the Blaine's family. It had been tense since the two boys had arrived the night before.

They had just sat down to dinner when Mr. Anderson started regaling everyone with the story of a car that he was restoring.

"I found a 1964 Corvette in a junk yard that I'm putting back together, son. If you were to help me over your winter break, I might be inclined to give it to you," Mr. Anderson said to Blaine almost pretending that Kurt wasn't even there.

"That's what you said about the last car that I helped you restore," Blaine informed his father.

"Oh that one was my first restoration and it's kind of special to me. You understand don't you son? When we've finished dinner, you and I can go out to the shop and give the old '64 a look."

Blaine and Kurt both noticed that Mr. Anderson had failed to include Kurt in the invitation.

"Kurt's coming too, isn't he dad? He knows a lot about cars," Blaine said defending Kurt.

"Model cars, I bet. When I shook your friend's hand last night it was as soft as a baby's butt," Mr. Anderson said scarfing down his turkey.

"Actually, Mr. Anderson, my dad owns a tire and lube store. When my mother died I was eight years old. I started spending all of my free time with him. I rebuilt my first carburetor when I was ten. And they do make outstanding mechanics gloves these days." Kurt corrected Mr. Anderson.

"I've been wanting to ask you, what does your dad think about you liking, you know, other boys?" Mr. Anderson asked boldly.

"It's a fact, deep down, he would prefer it if I were straight, but he accepts me and loves me for who I am. He's even defended me and my right to be who I am on more than one occasion," Kurt answered.

"Has he ever tried to make you see the error of your ways?" Mr. Anderson asked judgmentally.

"He has known that I was gay since I was five years old. He never brought up the subject, but waited for me to tell him. No, he hasn't tried to change me nor does he judge me. Dad will be the first to tell you that he's in uncharted waters, but he's trying to educate himself, and I have his support and his love.

Mr. Anderson didn't say another word on the subject and asked his wife to pass the potatoes.

After dinner Mr. Anderson, Blaine, and Kurt went out to the garage to see his junked 1964 Corvette.

Mr. Anderson was going on and one about the specs of the 1964 Corvette when Kurt had to interrupt him.

"If I may, this isn't a 1964 Corvette. It's the 1963 edition."

Insulted, Mr. Anderson's face was becoming red. "You're telling me that I don't know what I talking about?" Mr. Anderson shouted at Kurt.

"Dad, please calm down. Kurt never meant to question your car knowledge," Blaine said defending Kurt.

Actually, Mr. Anderson, you may not know what you have here. The 1963 Corvette is the only model that had the split rear window. This car is ten times the collector item that the 1964 is. You have a diamond in the rough. The engine is a L75 with 300bhp. A four speed in this model will do 60 miles per hour in 7.2 seconds," Kurt said realizing that he may have spoken out of turn.

"How do you know this?" Mr. Anderson asked Kurt.

"Like I said, I virtually grew up underfoot in a car shop. My dad has done restoration work and he has worked on several Corvettes. The 1963 is the only model that has the rear split window because buyers complained about the visibility. GM killed the split window after only one year. This is a very rare and sought out car today. This car could be worth a lot of money if you can keep the numbers matching."

Mr. Anderson soon began to see Kurt in a new light. He saw him as just another car guy like himself. Suited up in coveralls the three men spent the rest of the Thanksgiving holiday working on the 1963 Corvette split widow coupe.

"How was your weekend?" Burt said to Kurt when he arrived back home on Sunday evening.

"Blaine and I helped his father see that a person's sexuality does not define who they are. We spent the weekend tearing apart a junked '63 Corvette split window coupe."

"A '63 split window? Where did he find that?" Burt asked excitedly.

"He found it in a junk yard. The guy that sold it to him apparently didn't know what he had and neither did Mr. Anderson."

"Well, I want to be one of the first to see it when he's finished. Are you helping him with the specs and the labor?" Burt asked.

"Yes, Blaine and I both are," Kurt said proudly.

-/- Until the next chapter, please keep reviewing. I appreciate them so much, Whistler Nights


	7. Chapter 7 Into December 2011

**Into December 2011 - Chapter 7**

(I do not own Glee, the characters, the brand names, or the songs mentioned in this chapter.)

Blaine returned to his rented home in Lima on the Sunday after Thanksgiving. In the kitchen he found Shelby humming to herself while Beth was beating pots with spoons on the floor.

"How was your Thanksgiving?" Blaine said cheerfully to Shelby. "I hated leaving you and Beth here alone over the long holiday weekend."

"Actually we weren't alone. After Rachel and Finn told me about Quinn's encounter with Beth while trick or treating, I decided to take a chance," Shelby said while drying the last of the dishes.

"What do you mean?" Blaine asked while picking Beth up off of the floor.

"It was all kind of last minute and pot luck, but I invited Beth's parents and grandparents over on Thursday night."

"Whoa! Did they come?"

"Reluctantly, yes. Quinn and Judy Fabray and Quinn's sister came. Puck was here with his mother and his sister. It was all kind of awkward at first, but I want Beth to grow up knowing her family. I didn't have that when I was a child. I was an only child and my parents always had to be somewhere else. Mostly my grandparents raised me," Shelby said sadly.

"How did it go?" Blaine asked.

"Surprisingly it went well. Judy kept saying how Beth looked just like Quinn when she was a baby. Mrs. Puckerman is the typical loving Jewish grandmother, just like my grandmothers."

"You know that you took a big chance. What if they want Beth back?" Blaine warned.

"I don't think so, I think Judy Fabray or Mrs. Puckerman would take her in a heart beat, but Quinn is the key here. She wants to know Beth, but she doesn't want to be her mother. Noah is in love with Beth, but he's a teenager with his whole life ahead of him. If Beth and I are going to live in Lima, we're all going to run into each other eventually. I just wanted to get the awkwardness behind us.

"How did your weekend go with your parents and Kurt?" Shelby asked.

"Like you said, awkward at first. Dad tried to act like Kurt wasn't even there. Then he tried to button Kurt down with some questions about how Burt was liking him being gay. Then we went out to the garage to see an old Corvette that Dad is rebuilding and Kurt floored Dad with his car knowledge. It seems that Dad has a very rare Corvette model and he didn't even know it. The three of us spent two days draped over the fenders of that relic. I think Dad finally began to see Kurt as just another car guy and not some pervert who was corrupting his son."

"Way to go Kurt!" Shelby said offering Blaine a high five.

Blaine helped Shelby pick up Beth's pots and spoons from the floor and rewash them. Then he headed up to his room to text Kurt before he unpacked his luggage and went to bed.

-/-

December 1, 2011 came and what a month Rachel had ahead of her. Hanukkah with her family, Christmas with Finn's. School, exams, and to top it all off – Sectionals. Others in her class were sweating college applications or praying for acceptance letters. Rachel had decided to go with her early acceptance at Juilliard, it wasn't a difficult decision.

Finn's football season was winding down, but the Titans were in the running for their conference and State championships. Finn was hoping Ohio State would offer him an athletic scholarship. Their recruiters had attended three games to watch him and Sam play. Finn had also applied to Kent State and Ohio University, but the Buckeyes were his first choice.

Early in December, Finn was waiting by Rachel's locker, but she never came. Calling her on his way to homeroom, Rachel finally picked up.

"What?" she said meekly into the phone.

"Rach, are you okay, you never miss school?" Finn asked.

"I have a blinding tension headache. I'm almost afraid to move," Rachel whispered into the phone. "Don't talk so loud, please"

"Okay," he whispered. "Are your dads there?"

"No, they're in Cincinnati."

"Rach, I'm afraid for you to be sick and home alone. I'm skipping and coming over."

"No, I'm not sick; I just have a very bad tension headache. I would appreciate it if you would get my homework for me. You know my schedule."

"Okay, I'll get your assignments. I'll call you at lunch and see how you're doing," Finn agreed.

At lunch Finn called and offered to skip school for the rest of the day and bring over some soup and tea. She told him that her headache was better, but not to skip. Exams and Sectionals were coming up, but some soup and tea after school would be nice.

Finn arrived at Rachel's house later in the afternoon with herbal tea and vegan soup. He found the spare key under the flower pot on the porch and let himself in.

"Hi Rach, I'm here," he called as he made his way up the stairs to her bedroom. He found her sitting up in her bed working on a history paper.

"Your headache must be better if you are working on the Charlemagne assignment," Finn commented.

"This assignment is what gave me the headache," Rachel said looking up from a stack of papers and books. "I was working on it until four this morning. We just have too much piled on us at this time of year."

Finn moved the books and papers from her bed to her desk. He them opened the soup sat down on her bed and began to feed it to her with the plastic spoon.

"You make a very good doctor," Rachel said as she opened her mouth like a baby bird for each spoonful.

"It's my pleasure to take care of you. What's got you so tensed up?" Finn asked.

"This assignment, Sectionals, exams to name a few," Rachel answered between sips of soup and tea.

"I know a way to relieve some of that tension if you are up to it," Finn said with a wicked smile. "Dr. Love is here with the cure for what ails you."

"Dr. Love indeed," Rachel said laughing. "You just want to get laid."

"Am I that obvious?" Finn joked. "You're the one sitting her in a pajama top that leaves nothing to my imagination."

Rachel looked down and her nipples were hard and protruding under the soft knit camisole.

"I'm sorry; the girls have a mind of their own when it comes to you. They do that every time you are near, or you speak, or someone says your name. They just love you as much as I do."

Finn sat the soup bowl and tea cup on her night stand and then leaned into Rachel for a long kiss and began to explore her breasts with his fingertips.

"The girls are happy to see me. Is your headache gone?" Finn asked as he peppered kisses down her jaw bone to her neck.

"Yes, my headache is better, but I'm still a little apprehensive. I know that we've been using double protection, but that baby scare that we had really shook me up. I can't risk Juilliard and you can't risk Ohio State."

"Rachel, there are other ways to relieve the tension, we don't have to hit a homerun every time. Third base is fine with me," Finn whispered into her neck.

"I think we skipped third base. I think we went straight from second base to home plate without ever touching third." Rachel smiled.

"Well in baseball the runner gets called back for not touching a base. How many homeruns have we made that we need to go back and touch third base for?" Finn asked.

"A lot," Rachel said as she pulled Finn's sweater over his head.

By dinner time Carole was calling Finn to see where he was at.

"I'm over here at Rachel's Mom. She had a bad tension headache and missed school today. I brought over her assignments and some soup and herbal tea. She's much better now. I'll be home soon."

Rachel just smiled replaying the events of the afternoon over in her head. "Does Dr. Love really have to go home?" Rachel asked. "Your cure and our little nap have made me feel like a new person."

"Yes, Dr. Love has got to go. I have a ton of homework, and you do too. If you need another one of my special cures, I do house calls, but only for you," Finn said tugging his shoes on. "I'll call later tonight to see how you're doing."

Around 11:00 Finn called Rachel. "This is Dr. Love calling for Rachel Berry; I just wanted to know if your prescription needs refilling?"

"No thank you doctor, I'm fine for now. How is the homework going?" Rachel asked.

"I'm calling it a night," Finn answered. "I don't think I can remember another irregular Spanish verb. Have you finished that Charlemagne paper?"

"Yes, it's finished and ready to hand in. I didn't get much sleep last night so I'm heading to bed. But I must say that our little nap this afternoon was most refreshing."

"I can sleep much better too when I'm holding you," Finn whispered into his cell phone.

"Me too, it's just like snuggling up against a big ole warm bear and nothing's going to harm me. I feel safe in your arms."

"We'll have to find the time for more naps if our winter break ever gets here. Good night Rachel, I love you. Call me if you need anything."

"I love you too, my big ole bear," Rachel whispered into the phone. "You're number one on my speed dial,"

-/-

New Directions was once again preparing for their third Sectionals. They didn't know for sure who their competition would be, but they had either won or tied at Sectionals for the past two years. This year they had Blaine and Kurt in their arsenal, so everyone was kind of relaxed.

Mr. Schue entered the classroom one afternoon with a letter in his hand.

"Guys, listen up, the show choir committee has sent the list of this year's competition brackets to me and we're facing the Ohio School for the Deaf and the Dalton Academy Warblers once again," Mr. Schue said excitedly.

"Hot dog!" Artie clapped. "We can beat the School for the Deaf again and we have the Warbler's big guns on our side this time."

Everyone was agreeing that this was going to be a slam dunk until Kurt raised his hand.

"Mr. Schue, Blaine and I've been talking about it and if we're facing the Dalton Academy Warblers, we would like to sit out this round."

"Hell to the no!" Mercedes snapped at Kurt. "We've competed against the Warblers twice with you on their team. You didn't sit out when you were up against us."

"Mercedes has a point," Blaine said. "It's just they're competing with two holes in their line up. To me it's double the insult to have their leads leave them and then compete against them. Sort of like treason."

"They never hesitated to use Kurt against us," Mercedes fumed.

"We need both of you," Mr. Schue interjected. "Blaine, we need you on keyboards for Bonnie Tyler's _I Need a Hero." _

"Yeah, I've been working on the drums for that song for weeks," Finn said furrowing his brow.

"And I've got the vocals down cold," Santana hissed. "Without that song, I lose my solo."

"How about we have a compromise?" Blaine suggested. "How about letting me sit out and Kurt competes with New Directions against the Warblers. Those guys have been my friends since my freshman year, and I don't want to look like I jumped to New Directions just because your team won it all last year. When New Directions knocks them off, I'll be back and we save _I Need a Hero_ for Regionals.

"Who says that we're going to knock them off?" Mike asked.

"I do," Blaine said. "I have competed with both glee clubs and the Warblers may have that acapella thing going, but they don't have the moves that you do."

"You're also forgetting that Blaine could just quit New Directions if we don't agree to let him sit out. It's fine with me if he wants to skip this round and rejoin us after Sectionals." Quinn offered.

"What if we tie again and we face the Warblers at Regionals?" Mercedes asked. "It happened last year, it could happen again this year."

"If New Directions and the Warblers tie again at Sectionals then I'll compete with New Directions at Regionals. Does that sound fair?" Blaine asked.

"Fair enough," Finn said slapping his knees.

-/-

In 2011, Hanukkah over lapped Christmas. It was December 20th through the 28th. Everyone was making plans for the holidays, and winter break.

One early December night at dinner, Kurt asked his family, "Dad, I spent Thanksgiving with Blaine's family. Mr. Anderson would really like to talk with you since he's rebuilding that '63 Corvette. What would the three of you think about inviting Blaine's family here for Christmas?"

"Where're they going to sleep?" Finn asked not looking up from his roast beef.

"We'll, I've been thinking about that." Kurt smiled. "Finn do you think Hiram and Leroy would let you stay over at their house during the holidays?"

"I wish, but no, not without a marriage license," Finn answered downing his second glass of milk.

"Do you think Hiram and Leroy would let Mr. and Mrs. Anderson stay with them? They have all of that extra room," Kurt asked hopefully. "It would give Mr. Anderson a chance to see that a gay couple is really no different from anybody else."

"Kurt, number one, Rachel's family and Blaine's mom and dad have never met. Number two, I don't think that Hiram and Leroy would appreciate being observed like some sort of science project. And three, Rachel's family is Jewish. Don't you think they might like to enjoy Hanukkah without two non Jewish strangers staying in one of their guest rooms?" Finn said dryly.

"I didn't think about it that way," Kurt concluded. "Well I know that they can't stay with Blaine over at your old place. They're bursting at the seams over there already."

"I'm willing to cook, if you'd like to invite them to stay at a hotel, but I only get Christmas Day off from the hospital." Carole offered.

"No Carole, you've got enough going on with Zach and work, and I don't think its Finn place to give up his room for Kurt's guests. Why don't we have a family Christmas as planned since its going to be Zach first? Maybe we can get together with the Andersons sometime in the week between Christmas and New Year's," Burt offered.

Kurt continued working on his idea of getting his dad and Blaine's dad together. He knew that Carole and Blaine's mom would hit it off. Blaine's mom wasn't as prejudice as Mr. Anderson and everyone loved Carole. If that didn't work the two women could fawn over Zach. Kurt didn't know of an adult woman who didn't melt over a baby.

-/-

Sectionals were quickly approaching. Mercedes was going to wow everyone with Whitney Houston's _I Have Nothing_ as a replacement for _I Need a Hero._ Santana was not happy about it but they really needed Blaine on keyboards to take the song over the top. Brad could have easily taken over the keyboards, but Mr. Schue wanted a student on stage and Blaine played amazingly well.

Rachel would close out their set list with Rhianna's, _Only Girl, _with Mike and Brittany dancing, and New Directions backing her up.

When the Saturday for Sectionals competition arrived, New Directions drew numbers with the other teams. They would be performing second. It wasn't the best position to be in. The first performance set the bar and the last performance was the last thing on the judge's mind before they started deliberating.

The Ohio School for the Deaf performed first with a heart wrenching version of Lionel Richie and Michael Jackson's _We Are the World_ and the New Seeker's _I'd Like to Teach_ _the World to Sing_.

"They're going for the 'tug at your heart strings' vote, Tina whispered to Mercedes. "They always do," Mercedes whispered back.

New Directions performed second and the Dalton Academy followed them. The Warblers gave it their all with Maroon 5's _Misery_ and Rod Stewart's _Do You Think I'm_ _Sexy?_

Considering who the judges were, the Warblers may have shot themselves in the foot with the Rod Steward classic. When the voting was over, New Directions had taken first place and were moving on to Regionals for the third time.

-/-

Hanukkah arrived and Finn gave Rachel a hand made coupon booklet on the first night. It had eight fill-in-the-blank coupons inside. "What's this Rachel asked?"

"Read them," Finn instructed.

"They're eight coupons for Miss Rachel Berry from your very own Dr. Love. They're blank because you get to fill in what you want the good doctor to do to you, I mean to do for you," Finn smiled.

"This sounds like a gift for you too," Rachel quizzed Finn. "What kind of services does Dr. Love perform?"

"You know, tension relieving stuff," Finn answered still smiling.

"What if I want Dr. Love to wash my car?" Rachel asked.

"That's not exactly what I had in mind, but if that's what you want then I'll do it," Finn grinned.

"Do these coupons expire?" Rachel asked.

"Nope, they don't expire, but you can't give them to anyone else either. I'm your Dr. Love and no one else's."

"You'd better not be anyone else's Dr. Love," Rachel smiled. "Finn I feel a little lame. All I got for you for the first night of Hanukkah was an Ohio State key chain. I thought that this might be a good omen."

"It is Rachel, and I love it! I'll put my keys on it right now, and I'll think of you every time that I use it," Finn said hugging Rachel tightly.

The second, third, and fourth nights of Hanukkah went on with little gifts exchanged between the two. The fifth night of Hanukkah was also Christmas Eve. At night fall Rachel answered her front door to find not Finn but Coach Beiste standing there dressed as Old Saint Nick himself.

"Ho, ho, ho, Merry Christmas, is this the home of one Rachel Berry? I have a special delivery for you straight from the North Pole," Coach Beiste said in her most Santa like voice.

"Why yes it is Santa," Rachel exclaimed. "What could you possibly have for me?"

"Have you been a good girl this year?" Coach Beiste asked.

"Only the best," Rachel said jumping with excitement.

"Well I guess this gift is for you," Coach Beiste said pulling Finn in front of her from out the shadows where he had been standing.

"Hi Rach, it's me," Finn said. "I told you to ask for me again next Christmas, and its next Christmas. I'm still so sorry about last year."

"Don't be, you're the best Christmas or Hanukkah present in the whole world!" Rachel said pulling Finn into a kiss.

"Thanks, Coach Beiste, I mean Santa Claus," Finn said turning around to his coach. "I owe you one."

"My pleasure," Coach Beiste laughed. "Now if you could point me in the direction of home of one Miss Brittany S. Pierce. I have a Christmas delivery for her as well."

"Two blocks south and turn left. You can't miss it. It's the house competing with Las Vegas for lighting effects," Rachel smiled as she hugged Finn a little harder.

"You're the best gift ever," Rachel said to Finn as they closed the door. "What made you think of this?"

"I still feel badly for the way I abandoned you in that Christmas tree lot," Finn said. "The guys rented the suit and Coach Beiste agreed to play Santa for Brittany, so I thought this might make up for last year. I'm not much of a gift, but I hope that I'll do," Finn blushed.

"If I live to be a hundred years old, I'll never forget this night. How many girls get their wish of a life time brought to them by the only woman football coach in the country dressed as Santa Claus? I only wish that I had pictures. No one's going to believe this."

Christmas day was spent at the Hummel/Hudson house with Zach being the star of the day. At sunset, Rachel and Finn went back over to her house to observe the sixth night of Hanukkah with Hiram and Leroy.

-/-

Until next time, I hope that you are enjoying my twist on the story of Finchel. Next chapter begins the year of 2012 and the count down to their graduation. Sincerely, Whistler Nights.


	8. Chapter 8 As the 2011 Year Ends

**As the 2011 Year Ends – Chapter 8**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters.)

Christmas and Hanukkah for Finn and Rachel had been the best. The last day of Hanukkah was on December 28th and Shelby had invited Rachel over for dinner. Shelby had a surprise for her, but Rachel couldn't help but notice that Shelby hadn't invited anyone else, including Finn.

Finn really didn't mind. Puck, Sam, and Mike had put together an over night snowboarding trip and Kurt had offered to pay Finn's way if he'd relinquish his room for one night.

Mr. and Mrs. Anderson had wanted to come to Lima to meet Carole and Burt and the timing worked out so Finn would be gone for the night.

On the morning of the 28th, Kurt was up at dawn pushing Finn out of his bed and his room.

"What's the hurry?" Finn groaned. "I can get at least two more hours of sleep before Mike comes to pick me up."

"It's going to take Blaine and I all day to get this room cleaned and ready for the Andersons," Kurt grumbled. "I'm just glad that you have this bigger bed now. I don't think Blaine's parents would fit in your twin size."

"I'm glad that I have a bigger bed too." Burt was right, I was hanging off both ends of my twin bed," Finn yawned.

"Before Blaine and I get started cleaning your room, is there anything gross lurking under the bed, in the drawers, or in the closet that we should know about?" Kurt asked stripping the sheets off Finn's bed.

"Are Blaine's parents going to be under my bed?" Finn yawned again. "I might have some skin magazines under there."

"I'll make sure that I'll throw any graphic material of that nature out. I'm sure Rachel would appreciate it too if I did," Kurt said as he peeked under Finn's bed.

"Look, throwing out my collection of skin magazines wasn't part of the deal. Just put them someplace where Mr. and Mrs. Anderson won't see them," Finn protested.

"Don't you mean put them someplace where Carole won't see them?" Kurt taunted.

"Yeah, that too," Finn said getting his snowboarding gear out of the closet.

Finn was on his way out the door to meet Mike as Blaine was coming in.

"I appreciate your letting Mom and Dad use your room tonight," Blaine thanked Finn.

"It's cool," Finn said, "Just don't let Kurt throw out too much of my stuff or redecorate. Rachel is busy tonight and the guys are going snowboarding. We should be back late tomorrow evening, so tell your folks to make themselves at home."

When Blaine reached Finn's room, Kurt had already filled up a large garbage bag, and pulled a laundry basket full of dirty clothes out from under Finn's bed.

"Finn keeps complaining that he doesn't have anything to wear. Half of his wardrobe was under his bed." Kurt grumbled. "There were socks and t-shirts under there that I know he hasn't seen since last summer."

It was noon when Blaine and Kurt had Finn's room to Kurt's liking. Then they headed off to the grocery story to get everything that they needed to prepare dinner. Carole was working the day shift at the hospital so Blaine and Kurt agreed to fix dinner.

Finn rode to the snowboarding park in the Pocono's with Mike. Puck and Sam followed them in Sam's Tahoe. Puck had found a cheap motel near the snowboarding park with a cancellation. Kurt had agreed to pay for Finn's one fourth of the motel room and a two day lift ticket in return for Finn letting the Anderson's use his room overnight. Kurt had also thrown in a through cleaning of his step brother's room that Finn wasn't so sure about.

Checking into the motel the guys were shocked when they saw their sleeping arrangements. The four of them would be sharing two full size beds.

"Puck, what did you sign us up for?" Sam wanted to know.

"I thought I was getting the snowboarder special. Bunk beds like in one of those European hostiles," Puck said in his own defense.

"Did you ask what the snowboarder special was?" Mike asked. "I've never been in a motel or hotel that had bunk beds."

"Well no, I just assumed," Puck answered. "But we're getting a great rate on a Wednesday, right in the middle of a holiday week."

"You guys all assume that I'm the dim bulb here. Puck, you know what they say, when you assume, you make an ass out of u and me. Get it? Ass-u-me," Finn said rubbing it in.

"I get it, who did you hear that from, Kurt or Rachel?" Puck asked Finn.

"I think that I've heard both of them say it, but that's beside the point. Who's sleeping where or with whom?" Finn asked.

"Finn's the tallest, he's going to take up the most room, and I don't want him hugging me all night whispering 'Rachel' into my ear," Puck said throwing up his hands.

"Who says that I would want to share a bed with you anyway?" Finn said in his own defense. "I remember our sleepovers when we were kids. Do you still fight ninja assassins in your sleep? I've got an idea. I'm the best snowboarder here, I get stuck with which one of you losers face plants the most today."

"That's going to me," Mike surrendered.

"We're wasting a lot of time standing here talking about sleeping arrangements," Sam grumbled. "I didn't come here to sleep anyway. I can here for the snowboarding."

-/-

Rachel had spent most of the day at the after Christmas sales with Mercedes. Mercedes still couldn't believe that Coach Beiste had shown up at Rachel's door on Christmas Eve with Finn as her Christmas present.

Hurrying home from shopping, Rachel had to get ready for her dinner with Shelby and Beth. Shelby had asked Rachel to come over about five o'clock for dinner and for the last night of Hanukkah. Shelby told Rachel when she invited her that she had a Hanukkah surprise for her. Rachel was still clueless as to what it could be.

At exactly five o'clock. Rachel rang Shelby's doorbell with two small Hanukkah gifts in hand. One for Shelby and one for Beth. Shelby lit the eighth candle of Hanukkah and recited the blessing and prayers at sundown. Shelby had fixed a beef brisket and the traditional latkes potato pancakes. Shelby seemed to be stalling dinner when the doorbell rang.

"Thank goodness, your Hanukkah surprise is late but it's here," Shelby exclaimed. "Rachel, since it's your surprise, I think that you should be the one to answer the door."

Rachel was dumbfounded, not knowing what to expect on the other side of the door. It was kind of late for a delivery, but she got up from the table and went to answer the door.

Words didn't come when Rachel opened the door and came face to face with none other than Jesse St. James.

"Hello beautiful," Jesse said as he leaned forward and gave Rachel a kiss on the cheek. "If you don't close your mouth it might freeze that way."

Rachel was still semi speechless when she managed to ask, "Jesse, what are you doing here? I thought that you were in California."

"I was, but its winter break, and I couldn't let the holidays go by without seeing my mentor and my godchild Beth. I also wanted to see you too. That's why I asked Shelby to invite you," Jesse said giving Rachel an unnerving look.

Instantly Rachel felt like a caged animal. She didn't know why, but a wave of anxiety swept over her.

"Come in and shut the door," Shelby called to Jesse and a stunned Rachel. "You're letting in the cold."

Jesse pushed past Rachel and went to take Beth from Shelby's arms.

"How's my goddaughter? My you have grown and look at all of these blonde curls," Jesse said to Beth.

"Goddaughter?" Rachel asked in surprise. "Do Puck and Quinn know that Beth is your goddaughter?"

"What difference does it make?" Jesse asked hugging Beth and offering her a small Hanukkah gift.

The four of them sat down to open Hanukkah gifts when Rachel said to Jesse. "Shelby didn't tell me that you would be here. I don't have a gift for you."

"Yes you do," Jesse said to Rachel. "I'm here to ask for your forgiveness for the way things ended between us. I would like it very much if we could be friends again. Shelby tells me that you've been accepted at Juilliard. I really wanted to go there too, but then UCLA offered me a full ride."

"Jesse, you used me. You used me to spy on New Directions. You pretended to have feelings for me. You crushed an egg on my head knowing that I'm a vegan. The souls of those unborn chicks still haunt me."

"Rachel, part of that is my fault," Shelby interrupted. "You know I'm the one who asked Jesse to enter your life under false pretences. Yes, Jesse pretended to woo you at first, but I think that he was beginning to have feelings for you."

"Yes, Rachel. I was beginning to have feelings for you, but triple casting me with your two ex boyfriends was a bigger insult than a star like me could take. You didn't even give me the leading role. It was hard to break it off with you like that but, I knew that you were a vegan. Pelting you with eggs was the perfect answer. How are Finn and Puck doing anyway, please don't tell me that you're with either one of them."

"Yes Finn and I are now together. Finn is what got me through the darkest time of my life. You rejected me; Shelby rejected me and adopted an infant. New Directions didn't even place and we were going to be disbanded," Rachel said holding back the tears.

"But Shelby tells me that you and she have reconciled, and that you know that Beth is her second chance to do things right, not your replacement," Jesse said plainly.

"It's a day to day reconciliation, but that still doesn't mean that the events of that day have stopped hurting," Rachel said as a tear ran down her cheek.

Beth must have picked up on the tension that was filling the room because she began to whimper.

"Rachel what we did to you was wrong, and I for one am here to ask you for your forgiveness. I'm sorry for all of the hurt that I caused you. I'm glad that you found comfort with Finn and that he was there for you."

"Finn and I have both hurt one another, but we've found our way back to each other. If I can forgive him, then I guess that I can forgive you as well," Rachel said biting her lip.

"Again, I'm so sorry too," Shelby said to Rachel. "Let's sit down and enjoy the final night of Hanukkah together. A new year and new beginnings are just around the corner."

They sat down to eat and Jesse continued to ask Rachel about Juilliard and New York.

Where was she going to live?

What about Finn?

Would he be going with her to New York or would they be trying a long distance relationship?

Was Finn going to college or staying in Lima?

Would she and Finn end it all before she left for New York?

Could Finn fit into the life of a Broadway star?

Rachel was growing uneasy with his endless questions about New York and Finn. She barely ate her dinner and made an excuse to go home as soon as the meal ended. Rachel was trying not to show her uneasiness, but it was growing by the minute. One thing she was sure of, Jesse knew how uncomfortable he was making her feel and he was enjoying it.

On Rachel's drive home she felt the sense of foreboding growing. She wanted to call Finn so badly, but he was having a good time with the guys. Maybe it was just her imagination, but Jesse had succeeded in spooking her with all the prying questions. Both of her dads were home, and she was glad when she finally shut her front door behind her.

The next day, Rachel stayed at house. She counted the hours until Finn would be back in Lima. Jessie tried to call her once, but when Rachel saw that it was him, she didn't pick up. Jesse did leave a message.

"Hi Rachel, its Jesse. I certainly enjoyed seeing you again last night. I'm sorry that you had to leave so soon after dinner. I know that we'll be seeing each other again in the future. I've realized how much I've missed you. I'll be heading back to UCLA, but I'll be in touch. Thank you again for forgiving me. Love you, Jesse"

"Did he really say that he loved me?" Rachel asked herself. "Surely he didn't mean it literally. I'm in love with Finn and Jesse knows it."

Rachel quickly deleted the message and waited for Finn to get back from his snowboarding trip. She called Carole and asked her to have him call her as soon as Finn got home.

It was already dark when Mike dropped Finn off at home.

"Rachel wants you to call her," Carole told Finn. "She sounded upset about something.

Picking the phone up on the first ring Rachel said, "Finn I'm so glad that you are home. I would really like to see you. Is Blaine still there?"

"Yeah Blaine and Kurt are cleaning up the kitchen. Mom said that you sounded upset; do you want to come over?" Finn asked.

"Not if Blaine is there," Rachel answered. "I really need to talk to you and I don't want our conversation getting back to Shelby."

"Rachel, are you okay? How did your Hanukkah dinner

with Shelby go?" Finn asked concerned.

"Did I tell you that she had a surprise for me? That surprise turned out to be Jesse St. James," Rachel answered.

"I'll be right over," Finn said as he closed his phone.

Rachel was waiting for Finn on the porch when he drove up. Bundled in her coat, she ran for his truck and jumped in the passenger seat beside Finn.

"Can we talk out here? My dads are home and I don't want them to overhear us."

"Sure Rachel, we can talk out here in my truck. You're trembling; let me turn the heat up."

"I'm trembling because I'm afraid. I saw Jesse last night and something has changed about him. It may be my imagination, but he was almost menacing. He felt like a predator the way he kept pressing me about New York, Juilliard and you. I felt like a cornered animal."

"Did he threaten you?" Finn asked firmly. "I don't really need a reason to mess up his pretty boy face you know."

"No he didn't threaten me, but he kept asking more and more personal questions and his eyes had a sinister look about them. Shelby even defended what he did to me, and did you know that Shelby made him Beth's godfather?" Rachel asked out of breath.

"No, and I don't think either Quinn or Puck would like that either," Finn said pulling Rachel closer to him.

"Look, he's going back to UCLA in a few days. I'll make sure that I'm with you every minute of every waking day if that's what you need to shake this feeling. I'll not let him anywhere near you. Your dads are home now. When are they leaving for Cincinnati?"

"Not until after New Years," Rachel said snuggling closer to Finn for warmth.

"Do you think that you should tell them about last night and Jesse?"

"No, Jesse was nothing but polite to me. It may be all my imagination. I just can't shake this feeling. He wouldn't stop with the questions and he wouldn't get out of my face. His eyes were even different. Dad and Daddy would do nothing but make things difficult for Shelby. They don't like the way that she went about making contact with me. They still don't understand why she moved to Lima when she could have move anywhere in the world."

"Rachel, I for one don't think that this is all in your imagination, and I wasn't even there. I've seen Jesse and there's a dark side to him. It's obvious because he tries too hard to cover it up."

"Thanks Finn for believing me. I guess it's my fault for trusting people as easily as I do."

"Nothing is your fault. You have a big heart and you prefer to see the good in people first. That's all. I'm here for you, I'm just a phone call away," Finn said kissing her on the cheek.

"Would you like to come in and get warm? My dads would love to see you and I want to hear all about the snowboard trip. The next time that you guys go, I want to go too. Will you teach me to snowboard too?" Rachel asked Finn.

"It would be my honor to teach you to snowboard, but the next time we go, Puck isn't making the arrangement. I ended up sharing a bed with him and he's still fighting ninjas."

-/-

The next chapter is on the way. Thank you for all of the reviews and alerts. Sincerely, Whistler Nights


	9. Chapter 9 Man to Man

**Man to Man – Chapter 9**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters or brand names mentioned in this chapter.)

Blaine's father and Burt were able to spend some time together over the Christmas/New Years week while the Andersons were visiting. The two men spent the morning at Burt's tire shop looking at pictures and specs of cars that Burt had either helped rebuild or had gotten the tires and rims for. They also spent a lot of time going over an ongoing restoration in the back of Burt's shop. A buddy of Burt's was rebuilding a 1957 Chevy Impala and was using a lift that was in the back. Burt was Lima's go-to guy for tires and rims.

The two men had lunch together and while they were finishing their coffee, Mr. Anderson asked Burt a question that he had been dying to ask. "Burt, Blaine tells me that you've accepted of Kurt's sexuality. Can you tell me how you did it?"

Burt thought for a minute before he answered. "Honestly, the way that I look at it, I had three choices. One, I could turn my back on Kurt. Two, I could ignore Kurt's sexuality and stick my head in the sand. Or three, I could give my son the love and support that any son deserves from their dad, gay or straight," Burt said.

"But aren't you disappointed?" Mr. Anderson asked.

"Disappointed that my son is in the top 10% of his high school class? Disappointed that he's not on drugs or in a gang? Disappointed that he has his feet on the ground and has goals for his life? No, I'm not disappointed in the least," Burt answered.

"That's not what I meant," Mr. Anderson said.

"I know what you meant," Burt answered. "I'll be the first to admit that this life style is not what I would've chosen for my son. It would be easier for Kurt if he were straight. We live in a world with a lot of narrow minded people in it. It's going to be tough for Kurt, but as his father the least I can do is give him my support. There's going to be enough people out there against him. As you know, he left McKinley because he had his life treated."

Mr. Anderson continued. "From the time Blaine was born, I saw him as my legacy, my son, my connection to the future. I wanted him to get married, have a family and carry on the family name."

"Blaine can still have a family and children. My step-son's girlfriend Rachel has two gay dads. Families come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. Ours is a blended family, but I care for Finn just like he was my flesh and blood and Carole feels the same way about Kurt. It takes more than biology to be a family," Burt concluded.

"But how do you handle the people who aren't as open-minded as yourself?"

"I've never been a bigot, but I used to one of those narrow minded people growing up. I'm learning and honestly it isn't easy for either one of us. When your child hurts you hurt. When your child is happy you're happy. I don't know where Kurt or Blaine will end up. But gay or straight, Kurt is my son and I want him to know that I've got his back no matter what. I've had to be his mother and his father, and I'm not about to let him down now."

"When did you suspect that Kurt might be gay?"

"His mother and I began to notice things before he was old enough to go to school so I've had time to process this," Burt answered.

"So Kurt's mother knew?"

"Like me she suspected it, but I made it a point to not ask him. I waited for Kurt to come and tell me. I didn't want him to think that I assumed anything."

"I look at Kurt and I see my son, period. I don't define him by his sexuality. In Kurt I see a young man who's going to make his mark on the design industry. I see Blaine as an intelligent young man who will someday be a hell of a lawyer."

"You don't define the heterosexual people in your life by their sexual preferences. Why do we have to do that to two young men who are trying to find their way in the world?" Burt continued….

"This isn't easy for me any more than it is for you, but if a father can't support his son than who will? Kurt is my son and nothing's going to change that."

"Burt, thank you for answering my questions for me. Coming to terms with Blaine being gay has been a struggle for me as well. It's nice to know that I'm not the only father who's looking for answers." Mr. Anderson concluded.

"Anytime, I'm not an expert," Burt smiled. "But I do know a lot more about the 63 Corvette. Let me see your 'work in progress' pictures again."

The two men when back to Burt's tire shop to find Blaine and Kurt already there in greasy overalls. They had Kurt's Navigator up on the lift and were changing the oil and rotating the tires.

-/-

A few days after Rachel had dinner with Shelby and Jesse, the encounter was still bothering her. Jesse's demeanor toward her had felt almost menacing. The whole evening felt like an ambush.

Rachel knew that Beth always went down for her nap at one o'clock, so she called Shelby and asked if she could come over for a talk.

Shelby answered her door at precisely 1:30 to find Rachel standing there.

"Good afternoon," Shelby greeted Rachel with hushed excitement. "Beth just went down for her nap. I've been worried about you since you left our little dinner so suddenly. Are you feeling better?"

"I'm fine; I just need to talk to you about Jesse. Why didn't you tell me that he was going to be here?" Rachel asked.

"He asked me not too, he wanted his visit to be a surprise for you," Shelby answered.

"You know how he ended things with me don't you?" Rachel asked.

"Yes, I know about the eggs. I don't quite understand why he did it, and I think that it was a very immature thing to do. He said something about making a clean break with you, and how you pined after former boyfriends. He knew you were a vegan so I think the egg thing may have had a double meaning. Jesse has a very delicate ego and the Run Joey Run song did hurt him," Shelby answered.

"Are you defending him and what he did? If he's going to be an actor, he should have known that we were just acting in that song. It wasn't real. To make it as an actor, you have to have a thick skin. I know that he's your protégé and he's special to you," Rachel said.

"What he did was wrong. It was immature and I told him so. Yes, I have known Jesse for a long time and he's special to me. You and Jesse are so much alike. I've kind of hoped that the two of you might end up together someday," Shelby said biting her lip.

"Shelby, didn't you notice how he was in my face with that constant barrage of personal questions the other night?" Rachel asked bewilder. "I felt like a cornered animal. I left early because I felt like I was trapped and you two had set me up."

"Rachel, I think that you're making a mountain out of a mole hill. He really was sincere about his apology. Jesse hadn't seen you in months and he was just trying to catch up. He's interested in your future. He was accepted at Juilliard too, but when he was offered a full ride at UCLA, his parents wouldn't pay for Juilliard. UCLA is also in the heart of the film industry. I'm sorry if you felt like he was getting too personal. I must tell you that your turning to Finn was insulting to him. He feels Finn isn't good enough for you," Shelby answered.

"Finn picked up the pieces. If it hadn't been for Finn, I don't know what I would've done," Rachel said almost on the brink of tears.

"Well didn't Finn break up with you around this time last year? He's human he makes mistakes just like Jesse does," Shelby said in Jesse's defense.

"When Finn dumped me, it was my fault. We've since forgiven each other and have learned to trust again," Rachel said with her voice breaking.

"Can't you forgive Jesse too? He really does want to be friends with you."

"I have forgiven Jesse. It's the trust part that's giving me trouble, and please stop defending him," Rachel said wiping away a tear.

"Okay honey," Shelby conceited. "I'm sorry. If I'm guilty it's because I was trying to be a match maker. You and Jesse together could take Broadway by storm."

"I don't want Jesse," Rachel replied. "Jesse loves Jesse. Finn loves me. That's the difference between the two of them."

"Okay, honey. I just want you to be happy. I'll not try to push Jesse on you again," Shelby promised.

"Thanks, Rachel sniffed. "I truly love Finn. It may not work out between us, but for now, I'm very happy. He loves me warts and all, and he's not in love with himself."

Rachel and Shelby continued to talk about the Hanukkah holiday that had just passed and their New Year's plans. Rachel didn't feel any easier about Jesse, but at least he had already left for California.

-/-

Thank you for all of the reviews. Until the next chapter, thank you for reading. Whistler Nights


	10. Chapter 10

**A New Year - Chapter 10**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters or songs mentioned in this chapter.)

It was New Years Eve, the last night of 2011. New Directions had been invited to perform in Columbus, Ohio at the city's First Night event. Winning Nationals the spring before had given them the notoriety that they deserved. First Night in Columbus was a big deal. It was a non alcoholic celebration in the blocked off streets of downtown Columbus. They would be one of 150 performers at 15 performance sites in downtown Columbus. Just getting the invitation had galled Sue Sylvester.

The parents had chartered buses to take New Directions to Columbus instead of the usual school buses. The dead of winter in Ohio was rather cold on a school bus. The two buses left Lima at three in the afternoon to make their two hour trip to Columbus. New Directions and the McKinley Jazz Band were riding in the lead bus followed by their proud parents in the second bus.

Finn had secured the back seat for he and Rachel and they were snuggled up together. They told the on lookers that it was just for warmth, but really they just wanted to be close.

"Did you have a chance to talk to your mom about the Jesse dinner that was bothering you?" Finn asked.

"Yes, Shelby claims that she was just playing match maker between Jesse and I. I told her that I had no intentions of ever being with Jesse and that you were the guy that I wanted to be with," Rachel said snuggling a little closer.

"Thanks, Rachel. That means a lot to me because you're the one that I want to be with," Finn said kissing her on the top of her head.

"I also told her how uncomfortable Jesse made me feel, but she still made excuses for him. I swear, if he were out here killing puppies and kittens, she would still find a way to defend him," Rachel fumed blowing her bangs up in the air.

"He can do no wrong where Shelby is concerned. You know that Rachel. Let's forget about the two of them and concentrate on our performance tonight and the New Year. You know a lot is going to happen to us in 2012," Finn mused.

Rachel wrapped both arms around Finn's waist and rested her head on his shoulder while Finn began to think to himself about what was ahead for the two of them in 2012.

He'd looked forward to graduation for years, but now he almost dreaded it. He would have one blissful spring and summer with Rachel and then she'd be gone to New York and Juilliard in August. He knew that she would be meeting so many new and interesting people living in the city of her dreams. The distance to New York may as well have been the distance to the moon. He knew that she'd be home on holidays, but would Rachel out grow him and Ohio? Anyway you looked at it, once Rachel left her small town and her small town boyfriend; things would never be the same.

Rachel had gone to sleep on the bus ride and Finn let her enjoy her nap. She was snuggled up against him and he could feel her rhythmic breathing against his side. Looking out the bus window at the wintry Ohio afternoon he began to think to himself again. Right now he was the big man on campus, football hero, co-captain of New Directions, but this time next year would be so different. Rachel was already making plans for him to come to New York for the next New Year's Eve. They would be one of thousands crowned into Times Square to watch the ball drop.

Finn still hadn't heard from Ohio State, The University of Ohio, or Kent State. A football scholarship to Ohio State was realistically his only hope. The recruiters from Ohio State had been to Lima to see he and Sam play three times which gave him hope. Other friends had already received acceptance letters. Artie and Mike were going to Carnegie-Melon in Pittsburg. Even Quinn had been offered a cheerleading scholarship to Ohio State. Rachel would be in New York at Juilliard. Finn was getting depressed about his options. He had applied to a couple of community and junior colleges in the area even though he hadn't told Rachel about it. He knew that he could get a first class education locally, but being left behind in August bothered him. Even Kurt would be moving to New York and he would be stuck at home with his mom and Burt.

The tour buses pulled into Columbus at five o'clock. Mr. Schue got off the lead bus and found out exactly where and when they would be performing. After the buses were parked, Mr. Schue dismissed his students into the care of their parents. Rachel, Finn, Carole, Burt, Kurt, Blaine, Hiram and Leroy left the buses together in search of a great dinner on the town. Everyone was given maps and instructions for their performance. New Directions was scheduled to perform at eight so everyone had some time to enjoy First Night in Columbus and see some of the other performances. They would be finished and off the stage in time to see the fireworks at 10:30.

Dinner was great even though Carole had embarrassed Finn. She made him use his napkin as a bib so he wouldn't get any of his wings sauce on his performance shirt and tie.

They played it safe on stage with their tried and true performances, of _Don't Stop Believing, Somebody to Love_, and_ You Can't Always Get What You Want_.

At 10:30 everyone had found a spot to watch the fireworks. Finn was like a little kid at Christmas waiting for them to begin. With his arms wrapped around Rachel he noticed that she was not as excited about the impending explosions as he was.

"Rachel, what's wrong babe? I thought that you liked fireworks almost as much as I do," Finn asked.

"I used too. They just haven't been the same since you said that you saw fireworks when you kissed Quinn."

"Rachel, I want you to look at these fireworks. They light up the night sky, but they don't last. When they are gone it's just smoke. Your smile lights up my world everyday all day. When I kiss you it feels like home. I feel like I'm where I belong," Finn said leaning in for a kiss.

"Me too, when I'm in your arms I feel like I'm in the safest place on Earth," Rachel smiled.

When the kiss broke, Finn reached slowly into his pocket and held out his McKinley High School class ring to her.

" I wanted to give this to you at midnight, but now seems like a better time. I know that it's not an engagement ring or one of those cheesy promise rings, but I want you to have this to remember me by when you're in New York," Finn smiled shyly.

"I thought that you weren't going to get a high school class ring," Rachel said in stunned awe of the heavy gold ring. "You said that they were too expensive. Everyone else got theirs last fall, when did you get yours?"

"I had to make payments so I just paid it off yesterday. I was able to get some extra money working extra shifts at Sheets and Things over Christmas. But I want you to look at the sides of the ring."

Rachel turned the heavy gold ring in her hands to see a football on one side and a treble clef on the other.

"Rachel, you once said that we were opposite sides of the same coin. Well this ring is you and me. I want the whole school to know that you're my girl. I know that it's too big to wear on your finger, but you could put it on a chain and wear it around your neck if you want too."

Rachel squeezed the gold ring in her hand and immediately jumped into Finn's embrace.

"I want too," she said before kissing him again.

The fireworks had already started, but neither Finn nor Rachel had really noticed. They were too busy making their own fireworks.

Not too far away Will was watching the fireworks with Emma. Her annulment had been final since November, but she and Will were taking things slow. As the last of the fireworks faded Will leaned in and kissed her on the cheek.

"Emma, I know that you want to take things slow, but I would like to ask you something before the New Year begins. I'm not in any rush, but I would like to start off the New Year engaged to you. Emma, would you do me the honor of marrying me?" Will asked offering her a diamond ring in a black velvet box.

Emma was stunned almost speechless. "Will, my annulment is just over a month old. I can't jump into something like this so soon."

"I'm not asking you to marry me tomorrow. We don't even have to make this public. I just feel like we've wasted enough time. You don't even have to wear it on your finger for now. You can wear on a chain around your neck if you like. I just want you to be mine when you're ready. Think of it as stating my intentions before I loose you again."

"Will, it's more than the timing. I thought that I could over come my OCD by just jumping into marriage with Carl. I told you that we never consummated our marriage and that is what ended it. I can't do that to another man, especially not you. Sex is important to a marriage, it's the emotional bond. I can't put you through a sexless marriage the way I did Carl."

"Emma, the last time that we talked about your OCD, I handed you the card of a counselor and told you where to go to get help. I left you dangling to figure this out on your own. I'm not going to do that this time. If you will let me, I want to be there for you and we can work through this together. And in the end if you still can't be with me than I will try to understand. That's all that I'm asking."

"Will, I'm not going anywhere with anyone. If I did, it would be with you. How about it if you hang onto that ring for now and ask me again later. I will take you up on that offer to help me work through my OCD issues. It takes a support system and you're all that I have in Lima. I'm not going to say yes, but I'm not going to say no either. I want to be free of my demons before I consider getting married again. It's only fair to you. If you feel like you need to state your intentions, you have. I'm yours, but until I can be yours completely, hang onto the ring, okay," Emma asked.

"That's all that I'm asking," Will said putting the ring back into his pocket. "As long as I know that there's a possibility that you will accept this ring someday, then I'm willing to wait and do everything that I can make you better.

The bus ride back to Lima was a quiet one. They arrived just a little before three in the morning. Twelve hours since they had left. Finn and Rachel were cuddled up asleep in the back seat of the bus with Finn's ring on Rachel's thumb. Will and Emma sat on the front seat holding hands in the dark. Will rolled the ring box around in his pocket with the other hand. No she hadn't accepted his ring, but they had made promises to each other. Emma was going to get better, and Will was going to help her.

-/-

Thank you for continuing to follow my story. Count down to graduation begins. Until next time, Whistler Nights.


	11. Chapter 11 Winter 2012

**Winter 2012 – Chapter 11**

(Disclaimer - One - I do not own Glee or any of the characters. Two - The infant simulator Baby Think It Over is the registered trademark, product, and property of Realityworks. I do not own any brands or characters mentioned in this chapter.)

-/-

School reopened after winter break, and Finn and Rachel started their final semester at McKinley High.

The club was waiting in the choir room that January day when Mr. Schue entered practice just as the bell rang.

Looking around the room he noticed that Sam and Finn weren't in their usual seats.

"Where are Finn and Sam? We need them first thing for today's rehearsal," Mr. Schue asked the group as a whole.

"They were both called out of English class by Coach Beiste right after lunch," Artie volunteered. "But that was hours ago."

"Okay then, give me a minute to adjust my lesson plans," Mr. Schue said taking a stack of sheet music into his office.

Rachel was sitting off to the side by Finn's empty seat playing with his class ring. The ring was strung on a heavy gold chain and hung around her neck. She was tumbling the ring in her hand mindlessly as she read over her English Literature assignment.

"Excuse me, but does Rachel have some new bling that we haven't seen before? Rachel, is that a cow bell or your new rabies tag?" Santana hissed spying the flash of gold in Rachel's hand.

Rachel sat there a little stunned by Santana mean question when Mercedes came to her rescue.

"Back off Satan," Mercedes hiss back. "It's the class ring that almost every girl in this school would die for including you."

"I didn't know that there was a line of girls coveting Jacob Ben Israel's class ring. Who would want it considering where it's probably been?" Santana fired back.

"What does it say inside?" Quinn asked Rachel softly already knowing the answer.

"It has Christopher Finn Hudson engraved inside," Rachel answered just as softly to Quinn.

Quinn remembered back to the fall of her sophomore year when the class rings came in for the then seniors. She just knew that one day Finn's class ring would be dangling for a chain around her neck. But that was before everything came unraveled.

"Rachel, I thought that you'd be getting out of this town, but you have gone a let the biggest Lima loser put his dog collar on you," Santana sneered in Rachel's direction.

"I heard that," Finn said as she bounced through the choir room door with Sam on his heels.

"I'm a loser no more!" Finn shouted as he picked up Rachel and swung her around.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked.

"What you see in my hand is a letter of intent from the Ohio State University athletic department! They want both of us!" Finn shouted as he squeezed Rachel a little tighter.

"That's where we've been all afternoon," Sam added. "They couldn't decide between the two of us, so they're going to split a scholarship between Finn and me."

"So you're only getting a partial scholarship to Ohio State?" Quinn asked.

"Partial or not, I don't care!" Sam beamed with joy. "Ohio State wants us! They want us to play for the Buckeyes! Big Ten here we come!"

"Finn, where are you going to get the rest of the money?" Rachel asked quietly.

"Ms. Pillsbury is already working on that. My dad was killed in Desert Storm so his military benefits will help out. Miss P. is also contacting some local organizations for possible scholarships. I'm on my way Baby! We're on our way! I was so afraid of being left behind in Lima and you coming to your senses," Finn whispered in her ear.

"What are you talking about?" Rachel asked again with wide eyes.

"Oh Rach, I just knew that once you tasted the big life in New York you'd realize that you didn't want to be held back by a loser like me. Your old high school boyfriend who never made it out of Lima," Finn said softly in her ear.

"Finn, I'm shocked that you'd think that way. You don't give yourself enough credit. I was going to Juilliard, throw myself into the work, graduate early, and wait for you. Just you," Rachel said a little dismayed. "I am just so happy and proud of you, let's not spoil the moment. We can talk about this later."

Mr. Shue had reentered the choir room and Sam was telling him that he and Finn had both being recruited by Ohio State. The celebrating was just starting when Coach Beiste and Ms. Pillsbury came in.

"I've got to call my dads, we need to go out and celebrate tonight. How does dinner at Breadsticks sound?" Rachel asked Finn.

"How about just me and you tonight at Breadsticks? I've been putting so much on hold waiting to be accepted somewhere. We've got so much to talk about," Finn asked Rachel as he kissed her cheek again.

"Okay, but I think your family and my family should get together this weekend for a party. It's supposed to snow, but Dad and Daddy can set up their grill on the patio."

"Does that include Blaine? You know that Kurt won't go anywhere without him," Finn asked.

"Of course it includes Blaine. Heck, I think that we should include everyone," Rachel gushed.

"You better check that with your dads first, but about me and you? Can I pick you up at six for dinner?" Finn asked.

"I'll be waiting," Rachel beamed back.

-/-

On Friday afternoon of the same week, Quinn and Sam were late for Glee rehearsal. Mr. Schue was about to begin without them when the two came in together. Sam was carrying what looked like a crying plastic baby. Both Sam and Quinn had hospital looking wrist bands attached to their wrists.

"What are you two doing with the _Baby Think It Over_ infant simulator from the Life Skills class? I thought that was something that you had to do when you were a sophomore as a graduation requirement," Rachel asked.

"It is," Quinn sighed, "but I was busy having a real baby when I was a sophomore and Sam was at his all boys' school then. Ms. Pillsbury was checking our records before we could graduate and discovered that Sam and I were both missing the Life Skills class. We're stuck with the _Baby Think_ _It Over_ bionic doll for the weekend."

"Her name is Tangerine, and hold her head up." Brittany stated firmly. "When it was my turn to keep her over the weekend, I named her Tangerine. I didn't want to give her back. Barbie still misses her."

"I took that class when I was a freshman, but I had to do the crying doll part twice. The thing wouldn't stop crying so I locked it in my mom's car trunk over the weekend. My teacher found out about it when she checked the computer chip. Plus my neighbors called the police." Puck admitted.

"Well apparently that wasn't enough to get you to think it over since you knocked me up the following year," Quinn said shooting Puck a deadly glare.

"How did you get it to stop crying? It's been crying ever since she gave the thing to us," Sam asked.

"She's crying because you aren't supporting her head," Brittany offered. "Tangerine likes to be rocked, fed, burped, and her diaper changed."

"No one said anything about changing a bionic doll's diaper. Does this thing pee and poop too?" Sam asked looking like he was ready to transfer back to his old school.

"No, not really," Brittany offered. "Come and sit beside me and I'll show you what to do. You have to sit close to me to make your wrist band work. Tangerine won't recognize you unless the sensor in one of your wrist bands is close to her."

Brittany placed the infant simulator on her lap with Sam sitting on one side of her and Quinn on the other and then explained to them how _Baby Think it Over_ worked.

"Tangerine has two diapers. A green one and a yellow one. You have to swap one for the other when she needs a diaper change," Brittany explained. "She has sensors in her diapers and her butt."

"Is that all there is to it?" Sam asked.

"No, she doesn't need a diaper every time. Sometimes it a bottle, or a burp, or she wants some attention, or she's tired. You never know what her problem is and she screams until you figure it out. You only have sixty seconds to get it right before the computer chip tells on you. And feeding time takes half an hour."

"Can we just take the batteries out?" Quinn asked.

"Yes, but the microchip that she has in her back will rat you out and you'll fail the class."

"Can't we just cut the wrist band and you keep the pretend baby over the weekend? I'll pay you fifty bucks and I'm sure Quinn would chip in another fifty," Sam asked Brittany.

"You can't, Tangerine will scream the entire 48 hours if you cut your wrist band, besides the teacher will know when she checks the microchip. Who's teaching that class now?" Brittany asked.

"Coach Sylvester," Quinn answered with a sigh of disgust in her voice. "She doesn't have enough to do now that her Cherrios budget has been cut. When she saw that it was me and Sam taking the infant simulator doll home for the weekend she set it on the difficult baby setting on purpose."

Brittany lay the computerized doll down in her lap and proceeded to change the doll's diaper.

"Tangerine what's happened to you? Has someone been giving you steroids?" Brittany exclaimed in dismay, "You've grown boy parts!"

"Coach Sylvester must have given them the boy model," Kurt said shaking his head.

"This isn't Tangerine?" Brittany said in shock. "We'll just have to come up with a boy's name for you. How do you like the name Chucky?"

"I feel like I've taken that damn class twice," Finn whined. "Once with that crying doll, and once with our little brother Zach. Except Zach really does pee, and poop, and he pukes a lot. He kept all of us up for months with his cowlick."

Everyone including Brittany stared at Finn for a moment trying to figure out what Finn was trying to say.

"Cowlick? You mean colic!" Kurt scolded. "A cowlick is when your hair grows funny. Colic is a digestion problem."

"That too," Finn said still unaware of the difference. "He cried for months, and Zach doesn't have an on and off switch on his butt."

Brittany soothed the computerized doll and soon had it in the sleep mode. Rehearsal continued with Brittany shushing everyone to be quiet.

When practice was over Quinn and Sam agreed for Sam to keep _Baby Think it Over_ on Friday night and Saturday. He would give the computerized doll to Quinn on Saturday night at Rachel's party.

"Is this what divorced couples feel like when they swap the kids for the weekend?" Quinn asked packing the pretend baby's things into the diaper bag.

"I don't know," Sam said. "I just know that it's going to be a long twenty four hours with this thing. Did Coach Sylvester give us the heaviest baby she had?"

"It's not a real baby Sam. It's a computerized doll. I think it weighs about six and a half pounds, just like Beth," Quinn said helping Sam get the doll strapped into its sensor equipped car seat.

"Do you miss her?" Sam asked Quinn quietly.

"Of course I miss her, but I wasn't ready for a baby. Beth has a good home and a mother who loves her very much," Quinn said softly.

"They look like a couple with a baby," Rachel whispered to Finn as Sam and Quinn left with Sam carrying the doll in the doll's car seat and Quinn carrying all of the pretend baby supplies in a for real diaper bag.

"I think that it is cruel that Coach Sylvester is making Quinn do this part of the class. She should have gotten credit since she's already gone through a real pregnancy and childbirth," Rachel said quietly to Finn.

"I agree with you, but at least she has Sam for a partner, and it's only for a weekend." Finn said gathering up his sheet music.

"When you had to take that class, who did they partner you up with?" Finn asked Rachel.

"I didn't have a partner. No one wanted to do the assignment with me except Jacob Ben Israel, and I would rather have failed the class." Rachel said almost to herself.

"I would have been your partner," Finn offered. "I didn't have a partner either. That was the longest twenty four hours of my life, but my mom helped me."

On Saturday evening Sam showed up for the Ohio State party at the Berry house honoring Sam and Finn. Sam slept through most of it as _Baby Think It Over_ had kept him up and down almost all night. He had gotten a few naps during the day while he slept on the couch while his little sister pretended to give the fake baby its fake bottle or change its fake diaper. His sister had wanted to play with the doll, but every time she moved the doll a few feet away from Sam's wrist sensor the crying began.

The party was winding down and the bionic baby had slept through most of it along with Sam sleeping on Mr. Berry's couch in the den. Quinn didn't really want to wake Sam up, but she had to go and it was her turn to take the infant simulator for 24 hours.

"Sam, I have go home now," Quinn said shaking Sam awake. "It's my turn to take Tangerine or Chucky or whatever this doll's name is."

Once Sam was awake he said quietly to Quinn, "I've been thinking and I've got an idea. I don't thing this is very fair to you considering everything that you have been through. How about it if I keep Chucky for the next 24 hours? My wrist band is just like yours and Coach Sylvester will never know the difference."

Quinn looked at Sam in disbelief, "You would do that for me? You haven't really slept in the last 24 hours. It wouldn't be fair to you."

"I would rather be sleep deprived than to put you through 24 hours of crying robot baby trauma. Besides my little sister has been helping me out," Sam said to Quinn giving her a wink. "You and I would both get credit, and you wouldn't be traumatized out of ever having another child. Chucky here is a real handful."

"I have to be honest with you Sam, I was afraid that keeping this robotic baby doll, even for 24 hours would be more than I could handle mentally. How could I make it up to you?" Quinn asked.

"You can make it up to me by going to Breadsticks with me on Monday night. Remember, that's where we had our first date?" Sam asked politely.

"I would like that very much, but you have to let me pay. It would only be fair," Quinn offered.

"Don't you remember what you said, "A gentleman always pays on the first date. This won't be our first day, but maybe we can call it our 'trying to start over' date," Sam blushed.

"That would be very nice," Quinn smiled as she helped Sam and the now crying Chucky out to his car. "I'll be at your house first thing in the morning to help you get through the last of our 48 hours with dear sweet Chucky."

-/-

Near the end of January, Finn and Rachel were trying to study together one afternoon after school on Rachel's living room couch. Rachel was trying very hard to read her English Literature assignment, but Finn was intent on studying her neck and collar bone.

"Finn, I can't concentrate on Shakespeare when you're nibbling on my neck like that," Rachel said when Finn came up for air.

"But your neck is so much more interesting that all of these irregular Spanish verbs," Finn protested.

"Well let's put the books down for a few minutes, I've wanted to ask you something," Rachel offered.

"Anything Babe if I can get you pay some attention to me," Finn surrendered. "What do you want to know?"

"This time last year, you opened up that kissing booth to make money for Glee Club. Are you going to do it again this year?" Rachel asked.

"I really haven't thought about it. The club can always use the extra money."

"How much money did you make last year?" Rachel wanted to know.

"I think around $350.00," Finn guessed.

"I've been saving my birthday and Hanukkah money," Rachel offered. "I'll give the Glee Club $350.00 if you won't open it."

"What are you going to get out of it?" Finn asked reading her mind.

"What I'm going to get is a boyfriend who hasn't been exposed to every germ walking around McKinley, and I expect 350 of your best kisses in return," Rachel smiled.

"Does that count all of the kisses that I've already given you?" Finn asked with a sly smile.

"Nope, I want to start collecting my 350 kisses today," Rachel smiled back.

"Then we'd better get started," Finn joked as he gently pulled Rachel down onto the couch over him.

Things were getting heated when Rachel's mail carrier shoved the day's mail through the slot in the front door. Shooting across the floor among the bills was a large neon pink envelope sliding in the direction of the couch. The envelope caught Rachel eye as she squirmed out of Finn's arms to reach it.

"It's a little early for Valentine's Day, but thank you for thinking of me," Rachel smiled as she noticed that the envelope was addressed to her.

"I haven't sent a Valentine to you, at least not yet," Finn admitted.

"There isn't a return address on it, but the postmark is Los Angeles, California. Who do I know in California that would be sending a Valentine to me?" Rachel asked.

The answer clicked in Rachel and Finn's minds at the same time. "Jesse St. James," they both said in unison.

Rachel was growing angry as she ripped open the envelope. Inside was an expensive card to her from Jesse. The handwritten note was about how much he missed her and he hoped that she was sincere when she forgave him. He wanted to see her again to rekindle the old sparks. Jesse felt that they were destined to be together and the two of them would take Broadway by storm. He would be in Lima again on spring break and hoped that he could spend much of it with her. He now realized that she was meant to be his.

Rachel read the note twice before she handed it to Finn.

"I'm going to rip him from limb to limb," Finn roared. "How dare he chase after you when he knows that you and I are seeing each other? Do you have that douche bag's phone number? I'm going to tell him where he can go right now. There's no way in hell that you were meant to be his!"

"No, I'm going to ignore him," Rachel said pushing the card into her dad's paper shredder. "I can't let him know that he's upset me. One thing is for sure. When spring break comes, you and I are going to be somewhere else. Maybe he'll get the message and stop this fairy tale that he's cooked up in his mind about me."

Finn hugged Rachel a little tighter as he stroked her hair. Both of them knew that they hadn't heard the last from Jessie St. James.

-/-

Until the next time, thank you for following my story. Whistler Nights

.


	12. Chapter 12 Forewarned

**Forewarned, February 2012 – Chapter 12**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters.)

The day after Rachel received the disturbing Valentine card from Jessie, Rachel was ringing Shelby's doorbell.

"Good afternoon," Shelby said brightly as she opened the front door. "You're just in time to see Beth. I should get her up from her nap soon."

"Shelby, I'd like to talk to you first if you don't mind," Rachel said. "Is Jesse coming to Lima during his spring break in April?"

"Why yes he is. Passover, Easter, and his spring break from UCLA all overlap this year so he stopping by here. I really think that he's coming by to see you. He's certainly smitten with you," Shelby gushed.

"That's the problem; I'm not smitten with him. In fact his behavior during Hanukkah frightened me. I received a Valentine from him yesterday and he sounds like he's becoming obsessed with me."

"Oh Rachel, he's a performer like you. You know that performers heighten everything they do. It's just Jesse being Jesse. He does everything with passion and over the top enthusiasm," Shelby said defending her former student.

"You didn't see the Valentine card that he sent to me. I read it twice and it made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. He sounds like he's stalking me. He said that I was meant to be his."

"May I see the Valentine?" Shelby asked growing serious.

"I was so offended by it; I stuffed it into my dad's paper shredder. Jesse's making me feel afraid, and I'd like for you to talk to him about it. I'm with Finn. I don't want to be with Jesse. You've known him a long time and I feel like he might listen to you," Rachel asked.

"Rachel, as your mother I think that you and Jesse are a better match in the long run. You and Jesse have the same interests and goals. Both of you are destined for Broadway. Finn will only tie you down to this small town." Shelby said concerned.

"Shelby this is an odd time for you to play the mother card, especially since I'm asking for your help with your protégé. I want you to realize that I don't want Jesse, I want Finn. Jesse only wants me as an accessory for his ego."

"I think that you're making a mistake with Finn. You two have nothing in common and you'll realize that once the newness wears off. You're going to Juilliard in the fall. What's Finn going to do?" Shelby asked.

"Actually, he's been recruited by Ohio State University to play football for the Buckeyes. They've offered him a partial scholarship."

"I'm glad for Finn, but what does football and Broadway have in common?" Shelby wanted to know.

"I can see that I'm getting no where here, so I should be going," Rachel said getting up to leave. "Thank you for your time and give Beth a kiss for me."

"Rachel, think about it. You and Jesse together would be unstoppable. You could be the ultimate Broadway power couple. Producers would be clamoring for you. Finn is your high school sweetheart. That's okay for now, but in the end you're going to out grown him," Shelby pleaded.

"Not if I can help it," Rachel said closing Shelby's front door behind her.

Finn had parked on the curb across from his old house and was waiting for Rachel in his old blue Chevy pick-up.

"What did she say?" Finn asked as he leaned across the bench seat to open the passenger door for Rachel.

"Finn, she's as bad as Jesse! She defended him and thinks that I'm over reacting! She thinks that Jesse and I could rule New York together. Finn, I'm sorry, but she thinks that you and I aren't a match," Rachel said as her voice softened.

"Only a match made in Heaven," Finn said pulling Rachel to his side. "I checked and our spring break from McKinley is the week after Easter. We can go somewhere and be out of town when he comes, even if it's just camping."

"Finn, I can't spend my life avoid him, but getting out of Lima that week would be great. With our third Regionals and second Nationals coming up, I can't deal with him right now," Rachel said fastening the middle seat belt around her.

"I could get my mom to evict Shelby since Mom still owns the house," Finn offered.

"Thanks for the offer, but where would Beth live? There's Blaine to think about too. He's still renting your old room from Shelby," Rachel asked.

"I forgot about them. We'll figure out something," Finn said hugging Rachel a little tighter.

Later that evening Rachel called Finn.

"Finn, I talked to my dads and they're going to be in Washington DC the week that we're off for some ACLU work. The ACLU is going to pay their expenses. Dad and Daddy have offered to pay for yours and mine if you'd like to go."

"Really, I've never been to Washington DC before. How did you talk them into it?" Finn asked excitedly.

"They think that it's a good idea for me to be out of town after I told them about Jesse. If you went I wouldn't have to spend all day in a hotel room by myself."

"Sure, I'd love to go, but are your dads okay with you hanging out in a hotel with your boyfriend all day?" Finn asked in disbelief.

"You aren't only my boyfriend, you're my best friend. They trust me, and they trusted you enough to let you go with me on my first Juilliard audition. Besides, I don't plan on hanging out in a hotel room all day. I want to show you the Smithsonian and the cherry trees should be in bloom. There is one catch, you'll be sharing a room with Dad and Daddy," Rachel concluded.

"As long as I don't have to share a bed with them, I'm fine," Finn muttered.

"Dad and Daddy are going to reserve two adjoining rooms One with two queen size beds if you're okay with that?" Rachel asked.

"Let me clear it with Mom first, but I'm sure she'll let me go," Finn concluded.

They talked for awhile longer and then said their good nights. Finn sat at his desk for a moment and thought about sharing a room with Rachel's two dads. What had he gotten himself into? If this kind of information ever got back to the football team, he would never hear the end of it.

But getting to see Washington DC in April, and keeping Rachel save from Jesse would be worth it.

-/-

New Directions has once again been asked to perform at McKinley Valentine's dance. They were rehearsing a set list of love songs when a soft knock came at the door.

Ms. Pillsbury stuck her head in the door and asked Mr. Schue if she could speak to his class for a second. Ms. Pillsbury walked in with an unknown suited individual and Principal Figgins following her.

"Class," Ms Pillsbury began slowly. "This is John Davis, and he's a probation officer with the Ohio Department of Juvenile Corrections."

"I didn't know that Puck had a probation officer. What's he done now?" Santana asked.

"Mr. Davis isn't here because of Puck. That's what I wanted to talk to you about. Do you remember this time last year when your group performed at our Valentine's dance? Dave Karofsky and Azimio went to Columbus that night and attacked a gay couple at the Monster Truck Rally. Their one year sentences will soon be up and they'll be returning to Lima," Ms. Pillsbury concluded.

Blaine felt Kurt's grasp on his hand tighten.

"Will they be coming back to school here?" Finn shot up out of his seat. "I thought Karofsky's dad was going to put him in military school."

"No," Principal Figgins answered. "Military school won't accept him now. Both students will be finishing up their GEDs at the local community college."

"Both boys will be serving a three year probation," Officer Davis said. "Most of you will be going off to college in the fall, but my office wanted you to know that they'd be back in town soon. If no one has any more questions for me, I really need to get back to work. Here are some of my cards if you ever need to reach me."

Everyone was too stunned for questions, so Ms. Pillsbury left with Principal Figgins and Officer Davis.

After a few moments of quiet, Artie broke the silence.

"Brittany isn't going off to school," Artie offered. "She'll be going to the same community college with Karofsky and Azimio. She'll see them every day."

"I never had a problem with either of them," Brittany

offered.

"It's guilt by association, she's one of us," Artie exclaimed. "They may take their anger out on her."

"Don't worry about it Artie," Santana said staring at the floor. "I'm going to the same community college with Britt. I've got her back."

"I thought that you were going to UNC-Chapel Hill for pre-law and cheer for the Tarheels?" Artie questioned.

"I was going to Carolina, but when I told my parents about my relationship with Brittany they disowned me," Santana said visibility grinding her teeth. "I've been living at Brittany's house and waiting tables at Breadsticks ever since. I was hoping not to tell any of you this until after graduation."

"You mean your parents are going to deny your chance to go to college and become the sharpest lawyer in Ohio over who you choose to love?" Mr. Schuster asked in dismay. "You've got a partial cheerleading scholarship."

"The scholarship doesn't pay for everything, and my dad has officially cut me off. He even took away my car and sold it. He thinks he can punish me into being straight," Santana said still staring at the floor.

"I've tried to talk her out of being with me," Brittany said in Santana's defense.

"Brittany, if it wasn't you, it would be another female. My family disowning me won't change that. I'm not going to pretend to be something that I'm not just because my dad says so," Santana said squeezing the blonde's hand.

"How can you let him get away with this?" Mike asked.

"He hasn't gotten away with anything. I'm going to work my way through college and be the best damn lawyer this town has ever seen. It may take me twice as long, but then I can rub it in his face."

"But what about your cheerleading scholarship? I've been looking forward to the Buckeyes playing the Tarheels. Maybe in the Final Four," Finn asked Santana.

"I've declined it since I can't pay the extra costs on tips from Breadsticks alone. Maybe my dad will some day be sorry for what he's doing to me right now. In the mean time I've got Brittany, and I'm being true to myself," Santana said with small tear finally escaping her eye.

-/-

Until next time, Jesse is obsessed with Rachel. Shelby is clueless. Finn and Rachel will be in Washington DC together. Karofsky and Azimio are back. Santana has been disowned by her parents. What more could happen? Please keep reading and reviewing. Thank you so much, Whistler Nights


	13. Chapter 13 Second Grade Science

**Second Grade Science – Chapter 13**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters. I apologize in advance for language and crude references to the gay community made in this chapter. It was necessary to keep the characters in character.)

Jesse's plane touched down in Lima, Ohio on the Good Friday before Easter. He rented a car and drove straight to Rachel's house.

Jesse had been trying to call Rachel off and on for several weeks. Her cell phone always went straight to voice mail.

On one occasion he called the Berry's home phone, but was told by a mechanical voice that the number had been changed to a non-published number.

Reaching Rachel's house Jesse noticed that Rachel's pink Prius was in the driveway along with one of the two black luxury vehicles that belonged to her dads.

Jesse rang the doorbell and then walked around the house. It was clear that no one was home and his peeking in the windows was drawing the attention of one of the Berry's neighbors.

Returning to his rental car, he drove to Shelby's before the noisy neighbor called the police.

Shelby greeted Jesse with open arms, but Jessie was pre-occupied.

"Where is Rachel?" Jesse asked. "I left messages on her cell phone that I would be arriving in Lima today, but no one is home at her house."

"I don't know where she could be, but I haven't seen her in almost a month. She came by right before Valentine's Day. She wanted to talk to me about her relationship with you," Shelby answered.

"Did she tell you about the Valentine card that I sent to her? Did she like it? I spent almost an hour picking it out," Jesse said obviously pleased with himself.

"She didn't say anything about the card itself. What she wanted to talk to me about was the message that you wrote to her on the inside," Shelby said.

"I hope she was pleased with my note, I tried to pour my feelings for her into the message. I just don't understand where she could be. I told her that I was coming to see her, and that I wanted to be with her," Jesse said.

"I tried to tell her how perfect you two are for each other, but she's head over heels in love with Finn Hudson right now. Do you know him? He's the son of the woman that I'm renting this house from," Shelby asked.

"Oh I know Mr. Finn Hudson alright. Rachel can't see beyond his good looks and his ah-shucks charm. I feel like he's a flash-in-the-pan for her, and Rachel will soon grow tired of him. They have nothing in common and Rachel and I are so much alike it frightening."

"That's what Rachel said. She said that you frightened her. I tried to explain to her that it was just your overwhelming personality. She's a performer too; she has to see that it's just your over the top enthusiasm," Shelby tried to explain.

"I have the address where you can find Finn if you would like to go over there and see if Rachel's there. If she isn't there maybe Finn can tell you where to find her."

"I doubt that Mr. Hudson will tell me anything, but give me the address anyway. It's worth a shot," Jesse grumbled.

Half an hour later Jesse was beating on the Hummel/Hudson door impatiently.

"Gees man, we have a doorbell," Kurt said opening the door with Zach in his arms.

"I believe that you're Kurt, I remember you from New Directions, but who is this? Is this one of Finn's spawns?" Jesse said snidely.

"Yes, I'm Kurt, and no, this isn't Finn's child. This is Zach. Zach is half brother to both Finn and myself." Kurt conveyed holding the baby a little tighter.

"How can than be? Jesse asked. "He has Finn's dimples, but Finn's eyes aren't blue like his."

Finn's mother and my father are married. This is their child. The dimples are Carole's and the blue eyes are my dad's. I assume that you aren't here to discuss DNA, what can I do for you?" Kurt asked abruptly.

"I'm looking for Finn. I can't find Rachel, and I was hoping that he could tell me where to find her."

"Finn isn't here and neither is Rachel," Kurt responded dryly.

"But his truck is in the drive-way," Jesse retorted.

Kurt was explaining that Finn still wasn't there when Carole came up behind Kurt and took the baby.

"Hello, I'm Finn's mother. Kurt told you that Finn wasn't here and he isn't."

"Can you tell me where Finn is?" Jesse asked Carole.

"At this very moment, no I can't tell you exactly where he's at. If that's all you need, it's time for Zach's nap, and Kurt was on his way out," Carole said knowing that Finn was on a plane probably somewhere over Pennsylvania by now.

"Before you go, Rachel did leave something here for you," Kurt said handing Jesse a pink envelope with girly handwriting on it.

"I didn't know that you and Rachel were friends. When I was in New Directions, you two were always sparing for leads," Jesse said to Kurt.

"Rachel and I have become friends since she's been dating my brother. They're quite close you know," Kurt shot back. "Now if you will excuse me, spring break is short enough and I have to meet a friend for coffee."

Jesse turned as Kurt shut the door almost in his face. Returning to his rental car, Jesse ripped open the letter from Rachel and read it.

Dear Jesse,

I have asked my friend Kurt to give this letter to you as I won't be Lima for the next week.

I was sincere when I forgave you for the way things ended between us in 2010, but that's as far as it goes.

Your Valentine card said that you wished to resume our previous relationship and that we were meant to be. That isn't going to happen. I'm in a relationship with Finn Hudson now and that's where I want to be.

Your message stated that I was destined to be yours. That isn't going to happen either. Jesse, you're in love with yourself, and I'm not willing to be an accessory to your inflated ego. I have a destiny of my own at it doesn't include you.

You said that we're so much alike and Finn and I have nothing in common. Do you remember your second grade science when you learned about magnetic fields? Opposites attract, likes repel. That is us. I'm drawn to Finn because together we make up for what the other lacks. Like two puzzle pieces we fit together. Together Finn and I make a whole.

I hope that you will accept my decision and go on to lead an incredible life. We were never meant to be.

Sincerely,

Rachel Barbra Berry

Jesse wadded up the letter and pounded the steering wheel of the car with it. "Never in his entire life had he been so rebuffed by anyone in such a fashion! Who was she to turn away the affections of Jesse St. James? Any girl in her right mind would be honored to be seen on his arm. Maybe if that football fool were out of the picture, Rachel would see the error of her ways. Rachel should be humbled and grateful that someone like himself would dare to offer her a second chance, much less give her a second look," Jesse fumed to himself.

Jesse started the car and jammed the gas pedal to the floor leaving parallel black streaks on the street. Carole and Kurt had been watching his actions from behind lace curtains.

"He does look like he's becoming unhinged. Perhaps we should call Finn and give him a heads up when their plane lands in Washington DC," Kurt said to Carole.

"I think you are right," Carole replied. "I don't know what Rachel said in her letter, but I'm glad that both she and Finn are out of town this week. When you talk to Rachel, you might want to ask her to consider a restraining order. I've seen his kind at the hospital. Sophisticated and charming on the outside, but a black heart on the inside."

When the plane that was carrying Rachel, Finn, Hiram, and Leroy touched down in New York, Finn took out his cell phone and called Kurt.

"Has Jesse been by yet?" Finn asked his step brother.

"He came by just as you and Rachel had predicted. I must say that he was pissed and a bit out of control," Kurt answered.

Did he threaten anyone?" Finn worried.

"No, Carole and I sent him on his way, but your mom agrees with me, something isn't right about him. I don't remember him being like this when he was at McKinley last year. Carole thinks that Rachel might think about a restraining order if he refuses to take no for an answer," Kurt suggested.

"I'll let Rachel and her dads know what you said. In the mean time, you and Blaine watch each other's backs. I haven't seen Azimio and Karofsky, but Puck said that he saw them downtown. I've gotta go now Kurt, Hiram has a taxi waiting for us. Thanks for covering for us," Finn thanked his step brother.

Jesse drove around Lima for a long time thinking about how Rachel had dismissed him so easily. After he had recovered from his initial anger a thought occurred to him. He pulled the rental car to the side of the road and dialed 411. He asked for the phone number of the Berry and Berry Law Firm. Being Good Friday the office was closed but the answering machine gave him all the information that he needed. Both lawyers would be in Washington DC on ACLU business until April 16th.

"Bingo!" thought Jesse crumbling Rachel's note a little tighter in his hand.

-/-

Both Brittany and Santana had started their Friday evening shift at Breadsticks when the hostess told Santana that she had customers at one of her assigned table.

"Welcome to Breadstick. May I get you something to drink….." Santana stammered when she realized that her two customers were Karofsky and Azimio.

"Close you mouth before you catch a fly," Azimio said to the stunned Latino.

"What are you two doing here? I thought you were both still locked up." Santana asked snidley.

"Relax Santana," Dave said. "We are two law abiding citizens out for some food that's fit to eat, that's all. We did our time and we're back in Lima now. You can get Z and myself both a soda since that's your job."

Santana turned on her heel and found Brittany who was working another section of the restaurant.

"You're never going to guess who's sitting in one of the booths near the back. Both Karofsky and Azimio are here," Santana whispered to Brittany.

Brittany's blue eyes grew large as she headed over to Santana's section to see for herself.

"Hey Brittany," Azimio said when he saw her. "Is that whole damn Glee club working here? We just saw Santana. And where are our drinks?"

Santana soon reappeared with their drinks and set them on their table.

"No just Santana and I are working here," Brittany answered before she returned to her section.

"Since when does a doctor's daughter and an accountant's daughter work at a dive like this one?" Karofsky asked.

"We just are, Santana said avoiding the question. "Have you decided what you'd like to order?"

"Z and I have been dreaming for months about an extra large pepperoni pizza with everything on it. Make that double cheese and double pepperoni," Dave said giving Santana a suggestive look.

"I'll get your order right in, but just so you know, I'm not on the menu. Stop giving me that look, it's kinda creepy," Santana hissed.

When Santana returned with their pizza, Karofsky grabbed her hand and sat her down beside him. "Can you sit a talk for a minute, Azimio and I just got back into town and we have some catching up to do."

"If my boss catches me sitting with a customer, I'll be fired," Santana said jumping back to her feet. "Lima hasn't changed while you've been gone."

"I don't want to know about the town, I want to know about the people at McKinley," Karofsky asked stuffing his first slice of the pizza into his month whole.

"Well, Finn, Sam and Quinn are going to OSU in the fall. Quinn has a full ride and Finn and Sam will still be duking it out for quarterback."

"Is that little shit Hummel still around?" Karofsky asked with his mouth full.

"Yes he is, but not for long. He has a new boyfriend and they're both going to school this fall in New York City."

"Is Kurt's new 'boyfriend' anyone that I know?" Dave asked with food falling out his mouth while he spoke.

"No, Kurt met him while he was at Dalton Academy up in Westerville thanks to you. Kurt came back to McKinley and his friend Blaine transferred with him."

"So there are two homos in this town now?"

"Dave, what have you got against gays? You spent a year in juvie because you went into Columbus and jumped two guys that we're even bothering you," Santana sneered.

"They were bothering me. I had to look at them. Did you hear what their friends did to us? Azimio and I both still have the scars," Dave said pointing to a long cut through his eyebrow.

"You started it, now you can't go back to McKinley. You have a criminal record. You're on probation for three years. When you get your GED what are you going to do after that?" Santana shot back at him.

"Those record are sealed because we were both minors when it happened," Azimio said confidently.

"Sealed or not do you think that there isn't a person in Lima or Ohio who doesn't know what's in them? You two were the leading story on the nightly news for weeks," Santana scolded them.

"So we're celebrities?" I hope that they got my good side," Azimio preened.

"Celebrities? Your team mates were so ashamed that they stopped wearing their lettermen's jackets. The next time that you two fools decide to make jack asses out of yourselves on national television, please don't wear your letterman's jackets so prominently in front of the cameras. You still haven't answered my question. Why do you hate the gays so much?" Santana pushed.

"Santana, it's none of your business!" Dave snapped at her. "Now fill up our drinks before I complain to the manager."

Santana returned with a pitcher and avoided the urge to dump it over Karofsky head.

"If you two run into Kurt, leave him alone. You've done enough damage, and we can't win Nationals again without him," Santana warned.

"I have no intention of bothering Kurt Hummel or his boyfriend." Karofsky complained. If we break probation, it will be prison next time, not juvie. Besides, while we were there a kid in our building slit his wrists. I've never seen so much blood in my life. I don't know why he did it, but some of the guys said that he was gay and he couldn't take the bullying anymore."

"I hope you mean that," Santana said softly.

-/-

Thank you for sticking with my story and for the much appreciated reviews. Until the next chapter, Whistler Nights


	14. Chapter 14 Spring Break 2012

**Spring Break – 2012 Chapter 14**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters. I do not own Build-A-Bear Workshop or any brands mentioned in this chapter. I again apologize in advance for language and crude references used in this chapter. They were necessary to keep characters in character. Their words not mine.)

-/-

Finn, Rachel, Leroy and Hiram spent the weekend walking around Washington DC and seeing the sites.

On Easter Monday, Hiram and Leroy took off to their ACLU meeting and left Finn and Rachel to discover the city on their own. Hiram left Rachel some extra money for lunch and expenses. Rachel and Finn spent almost all of the day at the Smithsonian and didn't begin to see it all.

On Tuesday Rachel asked Finn what he would like to see since it was his first trip to the Nation's Capitol.

"I want to go to Arlington," Finn said quietly. "I know that my dad isn't buried there, but I believe I might find a connection to him there."

The two left their hotel and walked to the Metro station and boarded the train headed in the direction of Arlington National Cemetery.

They arrived early and the hustle and bustle of the usually hectic city was silenced to a reverent hush as they approach the gates.

Finn didn't have a lot to say when they first entered the military cemetery.

"What do you think?" Rachel asked later.

"I have seen pictures of this place, but the size of it is more than I ever imagined. Row after row, acre after acre of tomb stones," Finn said in amazement. "I feel like I'm walking on sacred ground."

"You are walking on sacred ground." Rachel reminded him. "Every facet of mankind is represented here, but they have one thing in common. They were soldiers defending the right to be free. There are graves here that date back to the Civil War."

"Rachel, most of these tomb stones are for men and women who died when they weren't much older than we are now. There lives were cut short before they ever had a chance to live."

"If you're saying that war is a waste, it is. But the soldiers who occupy these graves wouldn't say that their sacrifice was for nothing. Freedom isn't free; you're looking at the price. Both of my dads are descendants of people who were once slaves."

Finn and Rachel continued to walk around the cemetery that seemed to go on forever. They were passed by a horse drawn caisson that was carrying the flag draped coffin of another solider to their final resting place. Moments later they heard _Taps_ being played and the guns of a 21 gun salute in a distant corner of the cemetery. Rounding a corner they came upon a third funeral that was just ending. The honor guard folded the American Flag and then presented it to a young grieving widow who was holding a very small boy.

"That was me and Mom sixteen years ago. That little boy is going to grow up without a father just like I did." Finn said trying unsuccessfully to hold back the tears. His lower lip was quivering uncontrollably. Rachel had never seen Finn cry like that before.

"If that little boy has a mom like yours, he will be alright," Rachel said softly trying to comfort him.

"Mom's the best, but I still remember wishing that I had a dad at my Little League games like all of the other boys did."

"Finn you and I are very much alike except I knew that my mother was alive. I remembering making cards for Mother's Day at school and hoping that this would be the year that she would come."

"What did you do with the cards?" Finn asked

"I waited until the end of day, and when she didn't come, I gave them to Dad and Daddy."

"Rach, you may not have had a mom growing up, but I don't think a regular mom and dad could have loved you more than Hiram and Leroy," Finn said wiping his face. "Even a blind man can see that you're the center of their universe."

"I know, but it would've been nice to have had a mom to do girly things with. My dads had a horrible time explaining the birds and the bees to me."

"I know that Shelby is your mother, but I'll share my mom with you," Finn offered. "She's only the greatest. Did I ever tell you that she bought a catcher's mask and glove for herself when I was in Little League? She taught me how to pitch in our backyard."

Rachel wrapped her arms around Finn's waist and hugged him saying only, "thank you."

Trying to lighten Finn's somber mood, Rachel asked, "Do you feel like walking to the other side of the Potomac River? We can walk across the Arlington Bridge over to the Lincoln Memorial. We can grab something to eat from one of the street vendors there. Then if you feel like it we can rent bicycles and ride down to the Washington Memorial. You can almost the entire city from the top."

"I would like that very much," Finn smiled. "And Rachel, thank you for coming to Arlington with me."

On Wednesday, the two spent the entire day at the National Zoo. It was a long day of walking and having the greatest time together. Rachel was determined that Finn was going to get to see the pandas. It took most of the afternoon, but it was worth it. On the way out, Finn had to buy Rachel one of those toy stuffed pandas to go on her bed at home.

That evening Finn called home to see how things were going in Lima. He talked to Kurt first to see if Jesse had caused any trouble for his family.

"No Finn, no one has seen Jesse since last Friday. Maybe he spent the weekend with Shelby Corcoran and then went on home to spend the week with his own family," Kurt assumed hopefully.

"How are you doing?" Have you seen Karofsky or Azimio this week?" Finn asked.

"No, but I heard through the grape vine that they were at Breadsticks last Friday night," Kurt offered. "Brittany and Santana were both working that night, but Santana was their waitress."

"I wouldn't wish those two off on anybody, but Santana can handle them better than Brittany."

Thursday morning in Washington greeted everyone with pouring rain and a thunder storm. Hiram and Leroy left early for their long day leaving Finn and Rachel to sleep in. Walking all day at the zoo the day before had left them exhausted.

Lightening flashed violently and the every clap of thunder was followed by another. Finn had just snuggled into his cover a little deeper when he felt a tap on his shoulder. Finn expected it to be one of his current room mates, Hiram or Leroy. He opened one eye to see Rachel clutching the toy stuffed panda.

"I'm scared," Rachel said to Finn. "I'm over there in that great big room all by myself and this storm won't stop."

"Rachel Berry isn't afraid of anything," Finn said as he threw his cover back for her to get into the bed with him.

She snuggled up against his warm body and felt his arm wrap around her.

"That feels a lot better," Rachel said as Finn kissed her lightly on the back of her head. "Nothing can hurt me when I'm in your arms."

"Yeah but your dads can hurt me if they discover us in bed together," Finn yawned. "They've been so nice to take me along on this trip; I would hate to lose their trust."

"Finn, are you saying that you prefer your current room mates to me?"

"You know that I would love nothing more than to spend a long rainy day in bed with you. Your dad's are great, but I don't know which one snores the loudest," Finn yawned again.

"That would be Dad, but from my room next door, it sounds like a three way tie."

"Are you saying that I snore?" Finn asked.

"Yes, but it's a sexy little snore," Rachel said turning over in his arms to give him a long overdue lingering kiss.

Later in the morning, the two decided to go downstairs for brunch. Finn loved the strawberries and waffles and Rachel loved feeding the strawberries and whipped cream to him.

The rain was still pouring so the two decided to take the Metro back to the Smithsonian to see some of what they had missed on Monday. Hiram and Leroy met them for dinner and then the four went back to their hotel together.

Rachel started to swipe the hotel room door key in the lock when she noticed that the door was already open. Finn told her to call security while he pushed the door open with his foot and looked inside. Rachel's luggage and belongs were strewn across the room.

Security saw the jumbled room and called the police. Hours later Rachel was allowed to enter her room to make an inventory of what was missing while Finn and her dads stayed with her.

"I don't understand it Finn," Rachel said in shock. "My laptop, my diamond earrings, and my ipod are all here. None of my clothes are missing. All that's gone is my stuffed panda and your class ring. Finn, I'm so sorry. I know that you worked a lot of extra hours to pay that ring off and now it's gone."

"It's just a class ring Rachel. It can be replaced. You're safe and that's all that matters."

The hotel offered to give the four of them new rooms.

"Dad, Daddy, if it's okay with you, can I stay in your room with the three of you tonight?" Rachel asked still shaken. "I can sleep on top of the covers with Finn. Nothing will happen. I just don't want to be alone tonight."

Knowing that the bed that Finn was using was only three feet from theirs, Hiram and Leroy agreed. Finn and Rachel slept on different layers of the blankets that night. Finn wrapped his arm around her but in the dark he could still feel her trembling.

It was still pouring rain on Friday morning and everyone was ready to go home. Hiram changed their meetings and their flight By Friday night they were all back in their own beds in Lima. Finn came over on Saturday and Sunday to spent the day with Rachel quietly trying to calm her nerves. He asked Blaine and Kurt to go shopping for the cutest stuffed panda that they could find to replace the one that had been stolen.

When Kurt Hummel does something, he never does it half way. Before Blaine realized what was happening, they were on the road to the nearest Build-A-Bear Workshop. They were on a mission to build Rachel the cutest stuffed panda that the world had ever seen.

Once inside the Build-A-Bear store, the two young men decided that the ballerina outfit would please Rachel the most, but that was all that they agreed on. Blaine was dead set on purple and Kurt wasn't leaving the store without pink. Blaine finally compromise on the pink outfit since it was Rachel's favorite color, but in return he picked out all of the accessories.

With the panda properly dressed and boxed they were out the door heading for the food court. With their arms linked they rounded the corner and came face to face with Karofsky and Azimio.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here. If it isn't our own Lima lady peacock and it looks like Kurt has found himself another lady peacock. Are you going to introduce us?" Azimio mocked.

"You moron," Kurt sneered. "Everyone knows that the lady peacocks are the drab ones and the male peacocks are the flamboyant ones."

"Well that's you, flaming all the way," Azimio laughed. "Are you into teddy bears now too?"

"No, it's for Rachel Berry. Now if you two will kindly get out of our way. We need to get this to her."

"Not so fast, let me see your teddy bear," Azimio demanded stepping again in front of Kurt and Blaine.

"Leave them alone," Karofsky said pulling Azimio aside. "It's okay Kurt; we aren't going to harm you or your friend."

"Are you saying that because this place is swarming with security guards or did you have an attitude adjustment while you were in juvie?" Kurt asked unsure of the answer.

"Don't push it Hummel. I'm trying to be as nice to you as I can. Messing with the two of you isn't worth going back to lock up. You can be as queer as you please, I don't really care," Karofsky shrugged before he grabbed Azimio by the sleeve and walked away.

Kurt and Blaine were suddenly no longer hungry. They headed out to Kurt's Navigator and drove straight to Rachel's house. "Are you going to tell them about our little run in with Karofsky and Azimio?" Blaine asked Kurt.

"No, I'll tell Finn about it later, but right now Rachel has enough on her mind," Kurt concluded. "Let's just get this panda to her. I can't wait for her to see it."

Blaine rang the door bell at the Berry house and was greeted by Rachel. Finn was sound asleep on the couch with the musical _Cats_ playing on the television in front of him.

"Hi Rachel," Kurt beamed. "Has your bodyguard been asleep all day?"

"Mostly, I've let him sleep. It just makes me feel safe to have him here with me," Rachel smiled.

Finn heard everyone talking about him as he began to stir from his sleep. "Hey guys," Finn yawned. "Did you find what I sent you shopping for?"

"Only the cutest one that we could build, I mean find," Kurt said handing his step brother the box.

"Rachel, this isn't the one that was stolen, but I asked Kurt and Blaine to go shopping for me. I wanted you to have something to hold on to at night."

Handing Rachel the box, she knew immediately what was inside.

"Finn, I can't thank you enough," Rachel gushed as she hugged the panda tightly. "I've always wanted one of these."

"Kurt picked out the color, but I picked out the ballerina slippers and her accessories," Blaine beamed. "We wanted you to have a panda that shows you how much Finn, Kurt, and I love you. Well Finn loves you the most obviously, but we do too."

Rachel hugged all three of them in turn with small tears streaming down her face. "Thank you so much. I just wish that the robbers hadn't taken Finn class ring as well. They could have had my lap top instead. I just wish this feeling of violation would go away."

"You've got the three of us and your dads looking out for you," Finn said stroking her hair.

"What are you going to name your bear? It's definitely a girl bear," Kurt asked.

"I know that Finn hates this name, but I'd like to name her Finnessa," Rachel smiled.

"As long as you're calling the bear Finnessa and not me, I'm fine with that," Finn laughed.

"You know that a panda isn't really a bear." Kurt reminded them. "It's a member of the raccoon family."

"My panda can be anything that she wants to be," Rachel said giving Kurt a hug.

-/-

On Monday after school, Finn and Rachel were ringing the doorbell at Shelby's Corcoran's home.

"Well look who's here!" Shelby said to Beth as she opened the door. "It's your big sister Rachel and Uncle Finn."

Beth smiled and reached for Rachel saying, "Ray-Ray, Ray-Ray."

"I'm sorry that I didn't call before we came over, but we came straight from Glee rehearsal," Rachel apologized.

"That's quite all right. Beth and I are always glad to see the two of you," Shelby smiled at her two daughters.

"I just need to ask you about Jesse again. Did he come by to visit you during his spring break?" Rachel asked handing the fidgeting Beth to Finn.

"Jesse was here, but it wasn't much of a visit.

He arrived on Good Friday and was obsessed with finding you. I sent him over to Finn's house to look for you. When he didn't come back for several hours, I assumed that he had found you. He was trying to be polite when he returned, but you could tell that he was angry. He didn't even stay for dinner. After a few phone calls, he made his apologies and was gone. I haven't heard from him since," Shelby said talking the squirming toddler from Finn's arms.

"Did he tell you where he was going?" Rachel asked.

"I assume that he went to his uncle's home in Long Island, New York. His perpetually absent parents maintain a home near Carmel, but they're always 'out of the country' as Jesse calls it," Shelby told Rachel. "I have never met his parents but I have met the uncle."

"Can you give us the uncle's name or any information on how to get in touch with him?" Finn asked.

"The uncle's name is easy," Shelby almost laughed. "It's James St. James. Who would name their child that? But Long Island is all that I know about where he lives. Why do you ask?"

"Jesse sent a Valentine card to me stating that I was destined to be his. He comes here looking for me. Throws a fit at Finn's house when he can't find me. Leaves here abruptly, and the following Thursday someone breaks into my hotel room in Washington, DC while we were out," Rachel says shaking her head.

"Did they find out who broke into your hotel room? Are you okay? Did they take anything?" Shelby asked quickly.

"No they didn't find out who broke in my room and except for being shaken I'm okay."

"Rachel, your room was probably broken into by someone on the hotel staff. It could have been anyone of a hundred people. Are you suspecting that Jesse followed you to Washington and broke into your room?"

"It's what they took that makes us suspect that it might have been Jesse. The thief didn't take my very expensive lap top, my diamond earrings, or my ipod. They took a small stuffed panda that Finn bought for me at the National Zoo and Finn's class ring," Rachel said still sadden by the lost ring.

"Why would Jesse want Finn's class ring? Even if he wanted to pawn it for the gold, those things are very traceable with the school name on the outside and the owners name engraved on the inside."

"If it was Jesse, I don't think that he took the ring for its value. I think that he took it for what it represents. It represents a promise between me and Finn, and Jesse can't bear that. I don't think that you understand my choosing Finn over Jesse either. You keep insisting that Jesse and I are a better match," Rachel said frankly to her mother.

Shelby didn't answer for a few moments. Then she sat Beth on the floor and turned to her other daughter.

"Rachel, I am so sorry. Now that you have laid it all out for me in black and white it does make a little sense. I know that Jesse is head over heels in love with you. He has been very vocal and excited about it. I though that it was his over zealous personality. I'm still can't make myself believe that he would follow you to Washington. How would he know which hotel you were staying at? Finding you in such a big city when it was filled with tourists on spring break would be like finding a needle in a haystack. Jesse is smart, but he's not that smart."

"It's okay; he's had a lot of us fooled. It means a lot to me that you would stop defending him so blindly and consider the possibility that this isn't all in my head," Rachel smiled slightly. We've got to go, but if you talk to Jesse, please tell him that I meant what I said in my letter, and my dads are taking out a restraining order against him."

"I'll tell him Rachel. He usually calls me about once a month. I'll let you know about his reaction to the restraining order is too," Shelby offered as Finn and Rachel kissed Beth good bye and left.

Rachel and Finn said little to each other as they left, but Finn finally broke the silence.

"You know Rachel, Beth has her second birthday coming up soon. How would you feel about giving her a Build-A-Bear for her birthday? You and I could make a road trip out of in on Saturday."

"Finn, that's a marvelous idea!" Rachel gushed. "Finnessa could also use some pajamas, a robe, and some slippers. Her ballerina outfit is gorgeous, but she can't wear it all the time. We can get a bear for Zach while we are there."

"Are you forgetting that Zach's a boy?" Finn asked.

"They have boy bears and boy clothes too. We could dress one in a motorcycle jacket or a football uniform." The more excited Rachel became, the faster she talked.

"Okay we can get one for Zach too," Finn agreed. "Rachel, have I ever told you how easy it is to love you?"

"No, but that's something that I'll never get tired of hearing.

-/-

I hope that you are enjoying my story. The next chapter is coming soon. Thank you for the many kind reviews, Whistler Nights.


	15. Chapter 15 The End is in Sight

**The End is in Sight – Chapter 15**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters. I do not own the Fed Ex brand name. All character names are fictitious.)

Spring Break had ended and now it was buckle down time. There were just six weeks until graduation, but so much lay ahead. Their Senior Prom, final exams, a second trip to Nationals, and finally one last trip across the McKinley auditorium stage to accept their diplomas.

Rachel and Finn were at her house after school trying to perfect their duet dance steps when the phone rang.

Finn excused himself to go find something to eat while Rachel answered the phone.

"Rachel, it's me Shelby. I just wanted you to know that Jesse called me earlier today. I wanted to tell you about our conversation if this is a good time?"

"Sure, this is a good time. Finn and I are rehearsing our duet for Nationals, but we're taking a break. What did Jesse say?"

"First he apologized for cutting out on our visit when he was here before. I asked him where he spent his spring break, and he said that he went back to California since you weren't here," Shelby answered.

"Do you believe him?" Rachel asked her mother.

"He said that he spent the week at Big Sur with a few friends just hanging out. I told him that you didn't want to be with him and that you and your dads were taking out a restraining order."

"What did he say?" Rachel asked.

"He was speechless for a few moments, but then he said that a restraining order wouldn't be necessary. He had calmed down on his way back to California, and he realized that you didn't want him as much as he wanted you. He said to tell you that he was willing to wait for you if you ever gave up on Finn."

"Did you mention the ring to him?" Rachel asked.

"No, I didn't. It didn't seem like the right time to bring it up."

Rachel asked. "Do you believe that he really did go back to California when he left your house? And do you think he was sincere when he says that he has he given up on me? You know him better than anyone else. Did he sound like he was being honest with you?"

"The California part would be easy to confirm. But no, I honestly don't think that he has given up on you. Jesse St. James has never been a quitter. When he sees something that he wants, he has always gone after it," Shelby. confessed.

"I was afraid of that," Rachel said softly. "Thanks for the update and please call me if you hear anything else."

Rachel turned to Finn who was just finishing a big glass of milk on the couch.

"Rach, thank your dads for stocking the refrigerator with some milk for me. I know that you guys don't drink it. Was that Shelby on the phone?" Finn asked.

"It was Shelby. Jesse called her today, and he says that he went back to California when he left Lima."

"I'm calling BS on that one! Finn remarked quickly. "Why would he get on a plane and fly to Lima just to get on another one and fly back to California? The guy has the money, but it doesn't make sense."

"Shelby said that she told Jesse about the restraining order, but he said it wouldn't be necessary. He says that he has given up on me."

"I'm calling BS on that one too, but I really hope it's true. You've done everything except draw a picture for the guy," Finn fumed.

"Jesse also told her to tell me that he was willing to wait for me in case I ever gave up on you."

"Is that going to happen?" Finn asked.

"Not in a million years," Rachel smiled at Finn.

As Finn hugged her, Rachel continued to think to herself about the phone call that she had with Shelby. She was afraid that Jesse really hadn't given up. It wasn't like him to give up on anything so easily. She just knew in her gut that she hadn't seen the last of him.

-/-

Later in the week the 2012 edition of the school year book, The Thunder Clap arrived. The seniors received theirs first and Rachel was eager to check out who had been chosen as Senior Superlatives. The yearbook staff had been keeping the list a secret. The seniors who had been chosen Most Likely to Succeed were Rachel Berry and Artie Abrams. "Finally," she thought to herself, "McKinley was acknowledging her potential." Rachel was also chosen for Most Talented along with Blaine.

It was to no one's surprise that Finn and Quinn were selected as Most Handsome Male and Quinn Most Beautiful Female. It did irk Rachel that they had placed Finn and Quinn's pictures facing each other on opposite pages.

The list went on for several pages. It seemed that the yearbook staff had included every senior at least once. Kurt had easily taken Best Dressed Male honors and he and Blaine were named Best Looking Couple.

Brittany and Mike had been chosen as the male and female students most likely to be pros on _Dancing with the Stars_.

Quinn was chosen a second time for Best Eyes and Sam took the Best Lips title.

Near the end of the list Rachel noticed that her name was mentioned again. This time it was paired with Finn's name as the Couple Most Likely to go the Distance. Three years ago no one would have believed that the golden boy quarterback and the school slushie target would ever have their names mentioned together in the same sentence.

Santana was named Most Changed. She still had an edge, but was no longer the outspoken, hateful bitch. Brittany had mellowed her.

It was a given that Lauren and Puck were picked as Most Confident. Puck bragged later that it was code for Bad Ass.

Finn sat down by Rachel at lunch and asked, "Did you see the Senior Superlatives section, you were chosen Most Likely to Succeed with Artie, and Most Talented with Blaine.

Well it was no surprise that you were chosen Most Handsome Male. I just wish they hadn't put yours and Quinn's pictures opposite each other. When you close the year book, your pictures are locking lips," Rachel teased.

"Only in pictures," Finn teased back. Did you see the one about Going the Distance near the end? The one that included both of us?" Finn asked shyly.

"Yeah, I saw it. I wonder who on the yearbook staff came up with that one." Rachel smiled.

"Don't tell anyone, but I had to do some bribing to get that one included," Finn whispered in her ear.

"Finn, you didn't?" Rachel gushed.

"Yes, and it was worth every penny," Finn said pecking her lightly on the lips.

"No PDA's in the cafeteria!" Principal Figgins scolded on his way through.

"Yeah, a few of us are trying to eat," Mercedes loudly grumbled.

Their Senior Prom was only a few days away. Finn and Rachel were going together, but neither one of them could be talked into running for Prom King or Queen. After the fiasco of their Junior Prom someone else could have the drama. They were going to bask in each other's company on the sidelines. Quinn was running for Prom Queen again, but this time she was running with Sam. They too had worked their way back to each other, and this time it seemed like it was meant to be. Puck and Lauren were running again along with Kurt and Blaine. They were running for Prom King and Prom King. A first for McKinley and even the state of Ohio.

Finn and Rachel were spending as much time as possible together. They both knew what the other one was thinking but not saying. In August they'd both be leaving for college. Rachel would be at Juilliard in New York, and Finn would be at Ohio State in Columbus. Actually they were going to be separated before that. Two conditions of Finn and Sam's athletic scholarships were that they attend OSU's summer football camp and take college prep classes in the university's summer school program. OSU was going to groom both he and Sam for their future quarterback position, but they couldn't flunk out in the mean time. At least he and Rachel would be in the same state for the summer.

So much was happening so fast, but Nationals seemed to pre-empt the prom and graduation for them at the time. They had beaten Vocal Adrenaline last year, but Sunshine Corazon hadn't competed. VA was at full strength this year and ready to take back their title.

-/-

Rachel was helping Finn with irregular Spanish verbs the next week after school when her doorbell rang. It was a Fed Ex delivery man with an insured package for Rachel.

Inside the box Rachel found Finn's class ring with a note from a Washington DC police detective.

Dear Miss Berry,

The ring that you reported stolen turned up at a local pawn shop. We traced it back to a maid who worked at the hotel where you and your family had been staying. The maid has only been in this country a very short time and doesn't speak English. She says that she took the ring to pawn for rent and the toy for her daughter. Because she has confessed we won't need the ring as evidence so I am returning it to you. We hope that this incident won't prevent you from visiting our city again.

Sincerely,

Det. Joe Johnson

Washington DC Police

Rachel and Finn were stunned as Rachel unwrapped the class ring with Finn's name engraved inside it.

"I don't believe it," Rachel said. "I was sure that Jesse had followed us to Washington and taken the ring. I need to call Shelby and tell her about this."

"You weren't the only one who assumed that he had taken it," Finn confessed. "I still don't trust him. Just because he has backed off this time doesn't mean that he's through.

"I agree," said a stunned Rachel. "I don't think that we've seen the last of him either. Your mother summed him up perfectly. Sophisticated and charming on the outside, but a black heart on the inside."

-/- Until next time thank you for the reviews and for adding my story to your alerts list, Whistler Nights


	16. Chapter 16 Goodbye McKinley, Hello World

**Goodbye McKinley, Hello World – Chapter 16**

(I do not own Glee or any of the characters.)

Prom was just days away and Rachel really didn't want to go, but Finn had talked her into it. Memories of the Junior Prom had left a bad taste in Rachel's mouth. Finn explained to her that it was a chance for her to dress up and show everyone at McKinley how beautiful she was. It would also be one of the last chances that they would have to cut loose with their friends. Neither Rachel nor Finn was running for Prom Queen or King so there would be no stress.

Shelby had asked Rachel if she could help her with her make-up and hair. Years of coaching show choir had taught her a thing or two. It was unsaid, but both women knew it was Shelby trying to make up for lost mother-daughter moments.

The prom started at 7:00 and Finn told her that he would be over at 6:00 to pick her. That would give Hiram and Leroy time for taking pictures.

"Aren't we going out to eat dinner before we go?" Rachel asked a little confused.

"I thought that we would eat later when the restaurants are less crowded," Finn answered. "They usually have punch and cookies at the prom anyway."

"Okay, I'll eat a salad before I get dressed to hold me over," Rachel said a little disappointed.

Shelby was there by 3:00 to start the hair and make-up process. She brought Beth along with her who was happy to play on the floor in Rachel's bedroom. Beth had found Finnessa to play with and was in love with the panda.

Shelby had a cordial relationship with Hiram and Leroy, but still managed to be gone before they arrived home at 5:30.

Finn was ringing the doorbell at 6:00 as promised. He was standing at the foot of the staircase waiting for Rachel to come down while Leroy snapped pictures.

Finn couldn't believe his eyes. Her dress was a form fitting pale ivory sheath. The dress was strapless and her waist was cinched with a rhinestone adorned sash that tied in the back. Below her hips the dress fanned out slightly with about a 12 inch train in the back. Her hair was pulled up with lilies of the valley adorning the back.

Leroy stopped taking pictures and was star struck as he looked up the stairs at his daughter. "Pumpkin, you look like a bride. All you need is a rabbi and a groom, he said in awe." Hiram quickly elbowed Leroy in the ribs as Rachel blushed deeply. Finn was blushing too.

After what seemed like a thousand pictures, Finn escorted Rachel out to his freshly washed pick-up truck.

"I hope you didn't hear what Daddy said. If you did, I'm sorry," Rachel apologized.

"I heard him," Finn blushed again. "And he's right; you do look like a bride."

"I knew I shouldn't have picked this color," Rachel sighed to herself. "I just loved the way this dress fit, and when I bought it there wasn't a lot of selection left."

"No, this dress couldn't be more perfect for you. I wouldn't change a thing," Finn smiled down at her. "I'm just sorry that I don't have a limo instead of my old truck."

"Don't apologize for Old Blue. We have a lot of history in this truck," Rachel said defending Finn's old truck.

When they arrived at the prom the dancing was already underway, but that didn't stop classmates from giving them jaw dropping stares. Finn was in a black tux with a white shirt and a silver bowtie. The bowtie complimented Rachel's rhinestone sash. The two just stood out from everyone else.

"Damn Berry," Puck said to Rachel. "I knew you had a fine ass, but that dress really shows it off!"

"Back off Puckerman," Finn scolded Puck. "Don't be looking at my girl's ass."

"I can't help it," Puck defended himself.

Mercedes pulled Rachel aside and told her to hang onto the dress, "You look just like a bride in that dress."

"That's what Daddy said. He said all I needed was a rabbi and a groom right in front of Finn. I could have died," Rachel whispered to Mercedes.

"Judging from the way Finn has been looking at you, I think you have the groom part taken care of," Mercedes whispered back.

Later Kurt asked Finn if he could steal Rachel away him for a dance.

"It's too bad that you and Finn didn't run for Prom King and Queen this year," Kurt whispered in her ear. "The way the two of you look tonight, the crowns would have been yours. Did you see the way Quinn was glaring at you? If looks could kill, we'd be planning your funeral."

"After last year's drama, we just wanted to hang out with our friends. I honestly didn't want to be here, but Finn practically begged me to come," Rachel confided to Kurt.

Finn really couldn't stand being away from Rachel much longer so he cut in on his brother mid-way through the dance.

"I'm getting hungry. Do you mind if we cut out early?" Finn asked as the song ended.

"That would be fine with me. I'm getting kind of hungry too. Let's go before somebody douches me with pig's blood or something." Rachel agreed.

As they were saying their goodbyes, Puck asked them, "Aren't you staying to see who wins Prom King and Queen?

"Nah, Kurt can give us the blow by blow description later," Finn said with a little laugh.

They said their goodbyes and were soon back in the old Chevy truck.

"Rachel, do you mind if we stop by my house first? I know Mom and Burt would love to see your dress."

Finn was leading Rachel to his front door when it opened. Burt was standing there in a black suit with a white towel draped over his arm.

"Welcome Mademoiselle et Monsieur to Chez Hummel/Hudson," Burt said in his best French accent. "It's our pleasure to have you dining with us tonight."

Burt led Finn and Rachel out to the patio that was strung with white Christmas lights and a table for two that was elegantly set up.

Beside the table was a bottle of sparkling cider chilling in a make-shift champagne bucket. Barbra Streisand's _People Who Need_ _People_ was playing softly in the background.

Burt lit the candles on the table and opened the cider offering Finn a sample for his approval. Carole soon appeared with salads and hot French bread.

Rachel for once was almost at a loss for words. "Finn, you did all of this? Where's Zach?"

"Actually it was Mom and Kurt's idea. After last year, you

really didn't want to go to prom, so we're going to have our own little prom right here.

Zach's over at Shelby's. Shelby had been keeping him now that mom has gone back to work. Beth needed a playmate and mom needed a flexible babysitter."

Carole and Burt waited on them as if they were in a real French restaurant. Dinner was followed by an elegant raspberry dessert that Kurt had made earlier.

After the dessert dishes were taken away, Burt present Finn with what looked like the check and then he and Carole got in their car and left.

"Did Burt give you a check for our dinner?" Rachel asked in amazement.

"No, Finn laughed handing Rachel the piece of paper that Burt had given him. It said, "Have fun at your private prom, but remember this house turns back into a pumpkin at midnight. We'll be over at Shelby's if you need us, Love your French waiter and waitress, Bernard and Claudette.

Rachel was laughing so hard she was almost crying.

"My I have this dance?" Finn asked. "I downloaded all of the Barbra Streisand's slow dance music that I could find on I tunes. I'm a much better slow dancer than I am a fast dancer."

"That's funny, most guys prefer fast dance music," Rachel smiled as Finn helped her up from her seat.

"Not me. I just have to hold you and sway. I could do that all night long if you'd let me."

"I'd let you," Rachel confessed.

At midnight, Carole and Burt came through the front door with Zach sound asleep. Carole took the toddler and put him in his crib.

"So how was your private prom?" Burt asked softly.

"Ten times better than the real thing," Rachel said giving Burt a kiss on the cheek. "I can't thank you enough. I'll remember this night for as long as I live."

"Don't thank me. It was Carole and Kurt's idea. Shelby pitched in by keeping Zach for us. Has anyone heard who won Prom King and Queen?" Burt asked. "Kurt and Blaine were running."

"No, I haven't heard, but the queen of my prom is right here," Finn said giving Rachel a hug around her shoulders.

Carole joined them after putting Zach down for the night.

"Rachel, I didn't tell you earlier, but you look absolutely stunning. I was too busy playing the French waitress Claudette."

"Thanks Carole and thank you for our private prom. I was telling Burt that it was ten times better than the real thing."

Moments later Kurt and Blaine came through the door laughing. Burt shushed them before they woke Zach up.

"Who won?" Finn asked softly.

"Quinn and Sam did and we came in second. But I have to tell you that there were a lot of write-in votes for you and Rachel," Blaine told Finn. "Where did you get that silver bowtie? I have to get one of those!"

"I'm glad that Quinn won. Now her high school career is complete," Rachel smiled. "It meant so much to her to win that crown before she left McKinley."

"Didn't a little part of you want that crown?" Finn asked.

"Not in the least. I have you in my life, we're heading to Nationals, and Juilliard is waiting for me. I've already won." Rachel softly said.

The gathering broke up when Finn left to take Rachel home before her curfew. He parked in her driveway and Rachel leaned over to give Finn a goodnight kiss.

"Before I walk you to your door, can we talk for a few minutes?" Finn asked her. "You do look like a bride in that dress, and I was so proud to have been your date tonight."

"Finn, I can't thank you and your family enough for our private prom. I'll remember this night until the day I die. Did Dad and Daddy know about this too?

"No, Mom and Kurt cooked this up after you didn't want to go. After last year's prom they wanted you to have a prom that you would want to remember."

"Finn, this night couldn't have been more perfect!"

-/-

Monday afternoon and the prom was all but forgotten except for Quinn who was still reminding everyone that she had won. The others were concentrating on Nationals. The set list was complete, but so many details remained.

The 2011 Nationals had been in New York. This year they were heading west. The 2012 Nationals were in Los Angeles, California. Home of UCLA and Jesse St. James.

"Do you think Jesse will attend our competition?" Rachel asked Finn.

"I'd bet on it," Finn answered. "His old team Vocal Adrenaline will be there. But it's a three day competition with a lot more teams. He hasn't contacted you since spring break so hopeful he was sincere when he said he had given up on you."

"I hope so, but you and the guys don't have to be my bodyguards. I want all of us to have a good time in California."

The money that they needed for plane fare and a two nights in California was steep, but they had managed to raise it. Rachel had baked enough cookies, and Finn had washed enough cars to last a lifetime. Parents, churches and area music groups had also helped out.

Mr. Schue had promised them if they studied for their final exams on the plane, he would make sure they had some spare time to go to the beach. Many of them had never seen the Pacific.

Ms. Pillsbury was also along. She was their good luck charm. Everyone noticed how she and Mr. Schue were becoming closer. Rumor was that he had proposed, but Emma wasn't ready for that step yet.

New Directions competed on the first and second day and had survived elimination both days. With so many groups competing they hadn't been in the building at the same time when Vocal Adrenaline was performing.

On Sunday they were down to ten groups. Vocal Adrenaline and New Directions were among the ten finalists.

Vocal Adrenaline was one of the first five groups to perform. Sunshine brought the house down with LeAnn Rimes' power ballad _How Do I Live Without You?_

New Directions had drawn the ninth position. They began their set with Bonnie Tyler's _I'm Holding Out For a Hero._

Blaine was on one side of the stage playing a red baby grand piano and Finn was on the other side playing drums. Santana sang lead and nailed it. Brittany and Mike were in the middle doing a fast paced dance routine with the other members dancing and singing behind them.

The audience was dancing in the aisles. New Directions was glad that they hadn't used the song earlier when Blaine wasn't able to join them. The baby grand's lid was open and was mirror lined. The judges could see the hammers striking the strings at a frantic pace. That and Finn playing the furious rhythm on the drums seemed to fuel the audiences enthusiasm as the song built to an explosive crescendo.

Two songs later, Finn and Rachel closed the set with James Ingram's and Linda Ronstadt's _Somewhere Out There_ with Puck accompanying them on the electric guitar The pair convinced the audience that they were singing the song to reach other which in fact they were.

Leaving the stage Finn picked Rachel up and hugged her tightly. Over Finn's shoulder she could see Jesse standing there with roses.

"What are you doing here?" Rachel asked Jesse just above a whisper.

"On Broadway, the leading lady is always met with roses when she leaves the stage. You're going to be on Broadway some day Rachel and I thought that this would be a good place to start," Jessie smiled.

Finn clinched his fists as the fury in him grew. "Rachel doesn't want to be with you! Do I have to pound that into your head with my fists," Finn snarled at the shorter man.

"I know, you don't have to get all Neanderthal and protect her like a caveman. I just wanted to congratulate her on her performance and offer these roses as a peace offering." Jesse said obviously fearful of the much taller Finn.

"Are we supposed to believe you? After you declared that she was meant to belong to you? After you threw that fit in Lima over spring break? She doesn't need your roses or your congratulations! What she needs is for you to leave her alone. Don't you get that St Jackass?" Finn continued to get louder.

"Finn please, the judges are going to hear you, and Jesse did say that the roses were a peace offering," Rachel begged.

"Are you going to accept them?" Finn asked.

"Jesse, the roses are beautiful, but I don't want any more trouble. Why don't you give them to Sunshine? Coming from you it would do a lot to build her confidence as a performer?"

"Okay, have it your way," Jesse said giving Finn an evil look. I wouldn't want to spoil things between you and Fred Flintstone. If you ever get tired of being dragged around by the hair on your head by your caveman, please give me a call."

Jesse turned on his heel and immediately disappeared into the wings of the stage.

"Rachel, I'm sorry if I embarrassed you. I have never liked that guy and you know it. Something about him has never seemed quite right to me," Finn pleaded.

Later Rachel saw Sunshine parading around with the bouquet of roses.

At the end of the day, the winner's were announced. New Directions had once again beaten Vocal Adrenaline for first place. This time it felt good to Rachel. She had gone head to head with Sunshine and won. Everyone agreed, it was the obvious chemistry between her and Finn on their closing number that gave them the edge.

Everyone either slept of studies for exams on their flight back to Lima. All that lay ahead now was graduation.

-/-

This is the end of Rising Seniors. If you haven't guessed it, I have been building my stories, Closing the Door, Rising Seniors, and Graduation Day, What Lies Ahead into a three part trilogy. The idea came to me after Graduation Day had been posted and I was writing Closing the Door.

I hope that you are not disappointed. If you haven't read Graduation Day, please do so. It answers a lot of the questions raised in Rising Seniors.

Again, thank you for sticking with me through this rather long saga. I truly appreciate all the reviews and kinds words. A new independent story is on the drawing board. Until Next Time, thank you, Whistler Nights


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